6-16
Crow watches the scenery go by out the window.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
He glances down at his gloved fingers, runs them over the armrest. And here we are again.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
Crow looks over at Kaneshiro and frowns at the unhinged jaw filled with razor teeth, pulverizing the bones he tosses into his maw until they become a fine powder coating his raw, red gums.
This time, Crow chose an aisle seat. He won't put himself between this Shadow and glass again.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp.
"Are you going to tell me why I'm-" He starts.
"Rin Sugimura," Shadow Kaneshiro interrupts. "He's gotta go."
Crow searches his memory. He conjured up an image of an older man with gray in his temples. A politician. Associated, but unaffiliated with Shido. "I know a politician with the last name Sugimura, but-"
"Rin is his son," Kaneshiro cuts in. Crow bristles at being interrupted, twice. "Rin Sugimura. Make it happen."
"Why?" Crow asks. He had been expecting another request for a meeting from Kaneshiro. It's been a while since he has requested a mental shutdown.
"He's become a problem. The kid's made use of my services in the past. Up until recently, he was what you'd expect. Now? Kid's gone fucking bats." Shadow Kaneshiro frowns, which is a positively odd look, given the massive jaw. "He showed up at my place the other day. Said he had his fiancé in his car. He wanted me to drug her up so she'd be nice and doting or whatever. I had to smack him around some, and I sent him on his way."
Crow blinks. "Wait. What about his fiancé?" Any woman promised to the son of a prominent politician was bound to be from a powerful family herself.
"What about her?"
"Where is she?"
Kaneshiro shrugs. "No clue. She wasn't in the car. He insisted she was, and I had my men search everywhere. Nothing. I've kept tabs on the kid since. He's got no idea where she is, apparently. But he was still stupid enough to do what he did. It's only a matter of time before he does something even dumber."
Crow's eyes narrow. "There was no evidence of her? Anywhere?"
"Who gives a shit?" Kaneshiro asks. "She was never in the car, as far as I'm concerned. The kid went off the deep end."
Crow frowns. Kaneshiro and his thugs wouldn't know how to conduct a forensic investigation. Even if they did, why undertake one?
Why does this bother me? Crow wonders. The explanation was reasonable enough. Rin Sugimura had lost his grasp on reality.
"This girl," Crow says. "What's her name? Do you know?"
"Haru Okumura," Kaneshiro replies. "She's the daughter of the CEO of Okumura Foods."
Crow leans back in his seat. Haru Okumura. Daughter of Kunikazu Okumura. Fiancé of Rin Sugimura. Friend of Makoto Niijima.
"Interesting," Crow mutters.
"What's that interesting?" Kaneshiro asks.
Crow turns his gaze back towards the big man. The Shadow observes him with a look he does not like. "It's nothing," Crow says. "Nothing important." Maybe. "So, you think Rin Sugimura has become a liability to your businesses?"
Kaneshiro's eyes narrow. It's a few moments before he replies. "That's right."
Crow rolls his shoulders. "You know, I'm not your personal fixer. Why can't you-"
Kaneshiro grumbles out a laugh. "Let's not, yeah?" He shakes his head. "Is this about last time? Did I hurt your feelings when I cracked your head against the window?"
Crow scowls, and opens his mouth to reply, but Kaneshiro continues to speak.
"You exist to serve this thing of ours. That's your role. I've got a role too. My role is different than your role." He raises a hand, and gestures towards Crow, then towards himself. Back and forth. Back and forth. "Let's not confuse this relationship. I tell you to do something. You do it. That's all. Take care of Rin Sugimura. Do it so there's no connection to me and mine. Do it, and shut the fuck up about it."
Crow stares at him, lips pressed together in a thin line. His fingers twitch, but he keeps his hands steady. He consoles himself with a single thought. At the end of this, I'll be standing at the dawn of a new world. And you, Juunya Kaneshiro, will be nothing more than pulverized bones in the dirt.
He smiles. "Understood."
#
Sae stares down at the paperwork. The words have bled together once again. She leans back in her chair, shuts her eyes, takes a deep breath, then pushes herself forward and opens them once more.
The words are distinct now, and her brain kicks in and processes them accordingly. Much better.
"Knock, knock," comes a voice at the door.
For one strange second, Sae is certain she'll look up and find Goro Akechi standing in her office door. This, despite the voice belonging to someone clearly older. A shame too, she thinks. We haven't talked in a while.
She looks up at the source of the voice and has just enough time to stop her jaw from falling open. Hideotoshi Kagawa stands, with half his bulk in her office and half back out in the hall. He grins over at her and Sae feels many things crashing together within her.
"Ka-Kagawa-san," she says, and stands.
Absently, she adjusts her suit jacket, then curses herself for doing so.
"Oh, come on," he replies, waving the words away. "No need for that. We're only friends, aren't we, Sae?"
She forces a smile onto her face, and nods her head in something close to a bow. "How may I help you?" She asks, then shakes her head. "Please, um, come in."
"Thank you," he says, and returns the gesture. He steps inside and sticks his thumb back towards the door. "Open or closed?"
Sae waits a beat. "Is there a reason it needs to be closed?"
He shrugs. "No. I just figured you'd have a preference."
"I don't," she replies.
"Okay, then." He leaves the door open and moves over to her desk, glancing around the room as he does so. "You sure have a lot of work. I guess the SIU is keeping you busy."
"A Public Prosecutor often has a full plate," she replies, and gestures to the chair before her desk.
"Thanks," he says, and slides into it. "And no doubt, I'm sure." He takes another look around as Sae sits, and whistles beneath his breath. "Don't you have an assistant or something?"
She narrows her eyes. "I don't need an assistant."
He lifts his hands, palms towards her. "I didn't mean that you did. It's just that anyone with this kind of workload could probably use an extra pair of hands."
"Are you offering?"
He smirks. "Sorry, no can do. I've got my own backlog to work through."
Sae nods, but her reply is only to ask, "What brings you here, Officer Kagawa?"
Kagawa frowns at the official title, but doesn't address it. "Well, I wanted to ask about your sister, actually."
Sae frowns. "Makoto? What about her?"
"The little Miss called me the other day. She asked me to have a little sit down with her. She told me that her friend was in some kind of trouble." He cocks his head to the side. "Has she mentioned any of this to you? The name Rin Suigmura ring any bells?"
Sae expels a long breath of air, and once it's gone, whispers, "Goddammit."
Kagawa blinks. "I don't-"
"She said this to you?" Sae asks. "She specifically said the name, 'Rin Sugimura,' to you?"
Kagawa nods. "She did. Apparently the guy is engaged to her best friend, Haru Okumura. The bastard has supposedly left some rather threatening and scary messages on Okumura's voicemail. Makoto wanted her to bring them to me."
I told her not to get involved. I explained this to her! "Did she?"
"Well, that's the thing. The girl was supposed to come to our meeting, but she never showed. This sent Mini-Makoto into something of a tailspin. She called her other friends to help her look for her, and one of them showed up and-"
"One of them?" Sae snaps. Kagawa shifts in his seat. "What was their name?"
Kagawa blinks. "Akira Kurusu. Nice eno-"
"F-" Sae blurts out the beginnings of a curse, then clamps her mouth shut. She lifts up her hand and covers her mouth with her fist, turns in her chair until she's looking at the wall. Akira Kurusu. Rin Sugimura. She didn't listen. She never FUCKING listens.
"Sae, are you-"
"Makoto's not supposed to have any association with these people. Rin Sugimura. Akira Kurusu. I've told her this."
"I don't know about Kurusu," Kagawa continues. "But I don't think she does have any association with Sugimura. She's only trying to help her friend."
"She should worry about helping herself," Sae spits. "Not these random people she didn't even know two months ago."
Kagawa clears his throat. "So, I take it she hasn't talked about any of this with you?"
"She has not."
"Well, see, the thing is, Okumura never showed up. But when I spoke to Makoto next, she told me the girl was fine and had just gotten cold feet. She told me she didn't want to come forward anymore. I don't think that's the whole story. I think something's going on, but I don't know what. I'd rather not make assumptions, but I think it's got something to do with that Kurusu kid. Apparently, Haru Okumura and him share a shift at Rafflesia at Shibuya Underground. But she wasn't there when I checked." He glances his watch. "They've got another shift tonight, but I'm willing to bet she won't show. The whole thing, frankly, stinks."
"What is it," Sae asks through gritted teeth. "That you're here for, Officer Kagawa?"
Kagawa purses his lips. "I'm just following a hunch. Has Mini-Makoto been acting strange these last few weeks? Has she done anything out of the ordinary?"
Sae throws back her head and laughs. She laughs and she laughs and she laughs. It does not sound good, even to her own ears. Judging by Kagawa's face, it doesn't sound good to him either.
She stops it soon enough and says, "I haven't been home in some time. But my sister is fine, from what I understand. She's associated with some colorful individuals, but this a phase that will quickly pass. Before long she'll be back on the correct path."
"Okay," Kagawa replies, drawing the word out. "Still, though, maybe you should talk to her. Maybe we should talk to her together."
Sae rolls her eyes. "And what would that achieve?"
Kagawa is silent for a short time. Then he asks, "Big Sis Sae, are you okay?"
Sae puts as much weight behind her glare as she can. "Don't call me that."
He blinks. "Seriously. Are you okay?"
"That's not your concern."
He makes a face. "Well, it sort of is. Akihiko asked me to keep an eye on you and-"
"And this is the first I'm seeing you since," Sae snaps. "So don't pretend that you care, Officer Kagawa. You're not a very good liar."
He frowns. "I'm not lying, Sae. And I do care. Akihiko was my fri-"
"And a great lot of good that friendship did him," Sae replies, voice just shy of shouting. "Splattered across the grill of a truck." She nearly breaks on the last word, but manages to hold it together.
Kagawa looks like he's been slapped. Good. "I think it's time you left, Officer Kagawa."
"Yeah," he says, pushing himself to his feet. "You're probably right." He turns and shuffles towards the door. "I'm sorry if I bothered you, Sae. And I... well, I'm sorry."
He walks out and shuts the door behind him.
Sae balls her hands into fists, and digs her fingernails into her palms until they stop shaking. She won't let this affect her. It's been long enough. She's put it all behind her. It's all in the past. There was no reason to look back at it. There was only time for the future.
And Makoto is ruining her own.
Sae would see that. She thought she had been strict enough last time. Evidently, that wasn't the case.
#
"Um, Akira-kun?" Hanasaki asks.
Akira finishes rearranging the orchids, and turns to her. "Yes?"
"What is, um, your cat doing exactly?"
Akira follows her gaze to Morgana, who sits on a stool, staring at a few pages of printer paper. The cat glances up and finds the two of them watching him, then turns back to the pages. "You're on your own," he mutters.
"Oh, that," Akira says, and chuckles. "That's just something he's been doing lately. It calms him down."
Hanasaki peers down at the pages. "Blueprints of cars calm your cat down?"
"Well," Akira points out. "It's isn't blueprints of cars, per se. I think it has something to do with the abstract shapes. He likes to look at them. Study them, or something. It keeps him pretty relaxed."
"I see," Hanasaki says.
"Smooth," Morgana whispers.
Does it matter? Akira wonders. Hanasaki may find it odd for Morgana to be reading blueprints, but it wasn't as if the cat was taking notes. Not physical notes, anyway.
Haru had identified the make and model of Sugimura's car, and a simple online search had yielded said blueprints. Akira had tasked the other Thieves with printing out a few extra dozen blueprints of other cars, just to cover their tracks. Haru had complained of, 'killing trees,' but hadn't made a thing of it.
It was Morgana's job to break the car, once they got it where they wanted it.
Morgana had assured the rest of the Phantom Thieves that he could do it, provided he could have a day or two to study the plans. Akira figures he'll just slash everything under
the car with his claws, rather than do anything particularly surgical like he pretends. It didn't matter. What mattered was that the car couldn't move for a period of time. Hopefully, long enough for them to get into the Palace and get back out again.
Of course, Mona's job is the easy part.
Akira had a meeting after his shift at Rafflesia, one he was dreading.
"How's it going with that?" Akira asks, once Hanasaki returns to the front.
"It's going," Morgana replies. He reaches out a paw and pokes a small hole through a sheet of paper. "Pretty sure I can cut this and the car will be out of commission."
"Pretty sure?"
Morgana glares up at him. "Yes. Pretty sure. I've never sabotaged a car before. To be safe, I'll break just about everything I see."
Just like I thought, Akira thinks, with a smile.
They wrap up the shift, and Akira shoves the blueprints back into his bag. He thanks Hanasaki, accepts his pay, and heads out into the Shibuya night.
"You ready for this?" Morgana asks.
"Not really," Akira replies. "I know I've got to be, but I've never done something this intense before."
"You'll be okay. Just remember what Toranosuke said to you."
"I'm willing to bet," Akira says, as they walk. "That there are a lot more steps he didn't tell me about."
"Just, have confidence. Or something."
"Great," he says. "Thanks."
They turn down the alley and head towards Untouchable. The place is generally closed at this time, but Akira had sent Iwai a message, letting him know he would be dropping by.
He pushes the door open, which gives a faint jangle. Iwai sits behind the counter, hands folded together. He doesn't look like he usually does, laid back, quiet, and confident.
He looks, almost, scared.
"Kid," he says, looking up.
Akira nods. "Anyone else here?" He asks.
Iwai shakes his head.
Akira spreads his arms.
Iwai shakes his head once more. "Forget that shit. We need-"
"Hold it," Akira says and cuts in. Better do this now, before I lose my nerve. "Let me talk first." Iwai arches a brow, but keeps his mouth closed. "You need my help with something. That much is clear. You've been saying it for a while now. Well, I'll help you. But I want something in return and I need it fast." He swallows, pushing ahead. "I need chloroform."
Iwai blinks. "You joking?"
"No. I need it. And that's not all." He speaks quickly, laying out the basis of his plan.
Iwai's eyes get wider as he speaks. When he finishes, Iwai is silent. Then, he says, "And if I do these things for you, you promise to help me with what I need?"
Akira nods. "Yes, I do."
Iwai stands. "Deal." He turns and head back towards the office.
"Where are you going?" Akira asks.
Iwai turns his head back towards him. "I've got a call to make."
##
A/N: Happy Veterans Day!
Hey, so, I know things have been somewhat slow lately, but I want you all to know I'm hoping to get back to a regular posting schedule soon. No guarantees, but I just thought a head's up would be good.
That aside, anyone got any anime recommendations for this season, or from the last one? I watched Steins;Gate 0 (obviously) but I never finished the P5 anime.