It takes some time to reach LeBlanc, but Akira is thankful, at least, for the quiet it allows him. A collection of damp teenagers drew a fair amount of attention, but there were far stranger things on the Saturday night subways of Tokyo. The size of their group meant they couldn't reasonably discuss things without being overheard, so Akira had his thoughts to himself.
How did the car get in the Bay? Was Sugimura inside?
His hand kept patting the dead phone in his pocket.
Even if Sugimura was inside, why would it be in the Bay?
Beneath all this noise, a single question blares through his mind, again and again.
What happens now?
Yongen-jaya was its typical, early evening self. People moved around the narrow alleyways, heads down, voices little more than mumbles to one another. The Phantom Thieves trudged along, their clothes dried - relatively - and the last of their shivering behind them.
Not so for Yusuke. As their trip continued, his shakes got worse. He insisted he was fine, but his body betrayed him.
When they reach LeBlanc, Akira knows he has to do something, and turns to the group. "You guys head in. If Sojiro asks questions, tell him a hydrant burst, or something, and we all got soaked."
Ann frowns and runs a hand through her clumped hair. "Where're you going?"
"I'm taking Yusuke to Takemi's."
"I'm f-f-f-" Yusuke attempts.
"You're not," Akira replies.
"Akira's right, bro," Ryuji says. "You look like you're about to fall apart."
"Y-y-y-yes," Yusuke consents, and manages to make it sound like a pout.
Ryuji bends down and scoops up Morgana, who has walked besides them, silently, since the train. "We'll sell it to Boss."
Akira rests a hand on Yusuke's shoulder and begins to lead him away. "We'll be back as soon as we can."
The two of them head down the street and Akira hears the sound of LeBlanc's door chime as it opens and swings shut.
"A-A-A-A-Akira," Yusuke sputters.
"Maybe you shouldn't try to talk," Akira replies, and smiles at him. "Save your strength for dealing with Takemi."
Yusuke doesn't smile back. "D-d-did we do that?"
Akira stops. The nighttime noises of Yongen-jaya fade to a din. His throat dries up.
A few seconds pass.
Sound returns.
"I don't see how," Akira replies, finally, as they step out onto the street.
We were at the warehouse when we entered the Palace. We delivered the Calling Card with the burner. Iwai was supposed to knock out Sugimura. We changed Sugimura's heart. We didn't do anything differently.
"I don't see how," Akira repeats.
His father's voice echoes through his head. "You don't see how, because you can't see the full picture."
They approach Takemi's and Akira says, "You might want to cover your ears."
Yusuke does, but when Akira opens the door to the clinic, he finds it silent.
The two of them step into the empty waiting room. "Hello?" Akira calls.
He hears something in the direction of the exam rooms, a door opening. Then, there's a few clickclickclicks and Takemi steps into the room.
She frowns when she sees Akira. "What're you do-" Her eyes widen when she sees Yusuke. He gives her a shuddering nod. "What the hell happened to you?" She asks, stepping up to him.
"He was underwater," Akira tells her. "He's been shivering like that since we got out."
Takemi presses the back of her hand against Yusuke's cheek. "Okay, you need to get out of those clothes. I've got some blankets in the back. We need to get you warm, and get some fluids in you." She moves her hand down to Yusuke's shoulder and gently pulls him forward. "Come on. Does your head hurt?"
"A b-b-bit," Yusuke mumbles.
Takemi glares back at Akira. "You know his condition, and you took him swimming?"
"It wasn't like that," Akira says as he follows her, suddenly feeling ashamed.
"N-n-not his f-f-fault," Yusuke blurts. "Un-f-f-f-foreseen-"
"That's enough now," Takemi tells him. "You don't have to explain anything to me. Let's get you warm."
Akira continues to follow them, but Takemi holds up a hand and points back towards the waiting room. "You, wait out there. I want to talk to you."
"I just-"
"Now," She declares, as she disappears into another room, Yusuke in tow.
Akira lets out a sigh, and turns. He drags his feet back towards the waiting room, when a hand seizes his shoulder and shoves him to one side.
Akira throws up his arms, a scowl on his face, as his back slams into the wall.
He blinks. "Iwai?"
The older man - bare-chested, with a bandage wrapped around his lowered arm - glowers at him, face contorted into a scowl, one arm pressing him up against the wall. "You little shit," the man spits.
"What the fuck?" Akira asks. He tries to process it all. He's supposed to be at the warehouse. He's supposed to be at the warehouse!
"What're you doing here?" He asks. His breath begins to quicken.
"What the hell did you get me-" Iwai tries.
Akira blurts out, "What are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the warehouse!" He reaches up and seizes Iwai's arm, as if by touching him he can make the man go where he wants him to be.
"You've got a lot of questions to answer, kid."
"Why aren't you at the warehouse?" Akira asks.
"I got-"
"Why aren't you at the fucking warehouse?" Akira shouts.
Iwai yanks him forward then shoves him up against the wall, once more. "Would you shut the hell up? You really want to know why I'm not there?" He jerks his head towards his bandage. "Because I got fucking stabbed."
"Wh-what?" Akira asks, eyes widening. "Then, what happened to Sugi-"
"Hey!" Comes a shout. Both their heads whip around to find Takemi storming down the hall towards them.
"Let him go," she spits.
"This little bastard got-" Iwai starts to protest.
Takemi comes to a stop just before them, eyes burning up into Iwai's own. "I said, 'Let him go.'"
The seconds drag on, as Takemi stares up at Iwai, and Iwai stares down at her. Akira stares at them both, heart battering his ribcage.
Iwai's face twists into an annoyed frown, and releases Akira.
Takemi's face slackens by a fraction. "If you move like that," she mutters. "You could mess with your stitches." Iwai doesn't respond. Takemi sticks her thumb back over her shoulder. "I've got a kid back there who's in potentially very bad shape. Try not to kill each other while I tend to him, got it?"
Both men nod.
Takemi starts to turn, then stops. "I don't know what the hell is going on with you two, or what you're doing, but the second I've finished with Yusuke, the second, I'm coming back out here and you're going to tell me what this is all about."
Both men nod.
Takemi takes a few steps from them, wary eyes still watching. Then, she turns and marches back towards Yusuke's room, muttering beneath her breath.
Once she's gone, they turn to one another.
"You got stabbed?" Akira asks.
"What happened to the goddamn signal?" Iwai asks, at the same time.
Akira puts his hands to his head. "You were supposed to knock out Sugimura."
"I did," Iwai replies. "It was real easy." He reaches up and taps his shoulder. "His son of a bitch driver did this to me."
Akira blinks. "His driver stabbed you?"
Iwai nods. "You failed to mention the bastard was a former soldier or something."
"How was I supposed to know?"
Iwai snarls. "You think that's an excuse? You think not knowing something is a fucking excuse?" His voice begins to rise, but he glances back towards the door Takemi had gone through and lowers it once more. "You should've told me the driver could've been a problem. I could've prepared. Instead, he did this to me, and got away with your little boy toy." His eyes narrow. "I sure hope you managed to change his heart."
"That's not-" Akira starts, then falls silent. He looks at Iwai and feels his face go blank. "You know," he says. It isn't a question.
Iwai reaches into his pocket and pulls out the little flip phone. "Saw your little Calling Card, Phantom Thief."
Akira feels his knees weaken. "You know." He backs up against the wall. "Oh my god."
Iwai rolls his eyes. "For God's sake, Akira. Grow a fucking brain cell." He holds the phone up to his face and shakes it around. "You never admit to this kind of thing. Got it? Never, ever admit. You deny. Deny, deny, deny. Always." He shakes his head. "But yeah, I know. Thanks for the heads up."
Akira tries to force his mind to work. "You said the driver took Sugimura."
"After he stabbed me, yeah."
"What happened?"
"What'd you mean? He attacked me, took the kid, got in the car, and drove off."
Akira swallows. "They drove off? In the car?"
Iwai nods. "It made a hell of a racket. I didn't hang around to see where they went."
"Oh, no," Akira says. He slides down to the floor. "Oh, no. No, no, no, no." He puts his head in his hands.
Please no. Please don't let this be true.
"What?" Iwai asks, looking down at him. Akira doesn't reply. "Hey, what is it?"
The driver put Sugimura in the car.
The car drove off.
The car is in the Bay.
"Akira," Iwai spits. "Stand up." Akira doesn't move. "I said, 'Stand up.'"
He moves as if to seize Akira by his collar, but his hand hesitates. With a sigh, Iwai takes a step back, and holds out his hand. "C'mon kid, things don't get better when you lose your shit about them."
Akira looks up at him. "I think..."
"Yeah?"
Akira reaches out and takes Iwai's hand. The man winces and pulls Akira back to his feet. Once he's up, he looks Iwai in the eye and says, "I think Sugimura might be dead."
Iwai stares back at him. "Oh, fuck."
The two men exit into the waiting room, and it's only a few moments before Takemi comes back to meet them. "I've got him under some blankets. He's warming up. He'll need plenty of electrolytes and rest, but I think you got him here in time." She sets her hands on her hips. "Now, someone tell me what the hell is going on."
Akira pulls his glasses from his face and rubs his eyelids with his fingers. "We stole Sugimura's heart."
Both Iwai and Takemi's eyes bulge.
"Akira, stop talking, right n-" Takemi starts to say.
Iwai is even louder. "For fuck's sake, Akira. Did I not just say to deny everything?"
"You both know," Akira groans. "You just don't know the other knows." He lifts his gaze. "About me. The Phantom Thieves."
"Wait," Takemi says, and looks over at Iwai. "He knows?"
"She knows?" Iwai asks, staring up at her.
"Yes," Akira snaps, and spreads his hands wide. "Everybody knows!" He looks from one of them to the other. "I'm a Phantom Thief." He nods towards the exam room hallway. "So is he."
Iwai stares out at the doors. "Yeesh," he mutters.
"Hold on," she says, and points at Iwai. "Does your getting stabbed and Yusuke being wet have to do with one another?"
"Yes," Akira says.
"How?" Both Iwai and Takemi ask. Iwai adds, "And what did you mean when you said Sugimura might be dead?"
Takemi's eyes widen. "Oh my god. Akira, you didn't."
Akira pats the air. "Alright. Let me explain everything."
It takes longer for him to talk it all through that he would like, given that Iwai interrupts every few moments to express disbelief. Eventually, Akira has to demand that he stop speaking so he can finish. In the end, he can no longer meet Takemi's gaze, as she switches her glare from Akira to Iwai.
"You gave him chloroform?" She demands. "And you used it?"
Iwai scowls over at her, and shrugs. "Deal's a deal."
"Look," Akira says, and stands up. "I really need to get going. The others are waiting for me at LeBlanc, and we need to figure out what the hell happened." He begins to head for the door, but Iwai reaches out a grabs his shoulder.
"I'm coming with you," he says.
Akira opens his mouth to protest, but shuts it. Now that Iwai knew, it would be easier to just have everyone involved in the operation present. He looks at Takemi. "Please, take care of Yusuke."
She doesn't respond. She just looks sad.
Akira turns his gaze from her and heads out the door, Iwai in tow.
#
Makoto arrives at LeBlanc and feels her skin flush when she sees the 'Closed' sign in the door. She steps closer, sees light through the window. She walks up to the glass, and presses her face up against it, cupping her eyes to cut down on the glare.
Sakamoto is the first person she sees. Takamaki stands next to him, a hand on his shoulder. Makoto swallows and gently raps her knuckles on the glass.
The two blonde jump in shock, then spin towards her.
Sakamato squints, then nods and makes his way towards the door. Makoto can see Takamaki says something, but it's muffled.
Sakamoto unlocks the door and opens it for her. "Hey, Prez."
She takes in his disheveled look and says, "Are you-"
"Mako-chan?" She hears the voice from further inside, and peers past Sakamoto. Haru is sitting in one of the booths, poking her head out into the aisle.
Makoto feels a rush of relief and she pushes her way inside and beelines to her friend. Haru stands and when Makoto reaches her, she wraps her in a hug.
"Are you okay?" Makoto asks, and takes a step back, while still keeping her hands on her shoulders. "I was worried when-" She stops.
Haru's face is pale. Her hair is matted and tangled. Her clothes, the black ones she'd worn earlier, look wrinkled and hang heavy on her. "What happened?" She asks. She looks from Haru, to Sakamoto, to Takamaki.
"Where's Akira?" She asks. "Where's Morgana and Kitagawa?"
"Hey, Makoto," Akira says.
She turns back and sees him walking down the stairs. She lets out another sigh of relief, and even manages a third when she sees the black cat at his feet.
"You're okay," she says.
"Yusuke's at our friend's," he says. "He got… shaken up."
"Then, did it work?" Makoto asks.
It is Sakamoto who answers. "Sort of."
"Hey," a voice barks from upstairs. Makoto jumps. "What're you all doing downstairs? This isn't the time to fall apart, dammit."
A series of thundering footsteps later, and someone very surprising steps from the stairwell.
"You?" Makoto asks, as she stares at the owner of Untouchable.
Munehisa Iwai stares back at her, then nods. "I remember you. You came into my shop, asking after the kid here." He sticks his thumb towards Akira. "You almost bought that gun."
"What're you doing here?"
"You a Phantom Thief too?" Iwai asks.
Makoto's mouth drops open.
"Yeah, so he knows too," Akira says.
"So, when I came into the store to investigate, he was-"
"No," Akira replies, shaking his head. "Iwai has known for about forty-five minutes."
"Mako-chan." Haru's voice is barely a whisper. Makoto turns back to her, and her friend reaches up and wraps her hands around Makoto's forearms. "Sugimura is dead."
Makoto feels the air go out of her. "What?"
"We don't know that," Akira says.
"We kinda do," Sakamoto replies.
"Mrroww," Morgana says.
"Morgana's right," Takamaki says. "There's no way of knowing whether or not he got out of the car before it went into the Bay."
"The Bay?" Makoto asks.
It takes some time before everyone can settle down. Makoto pulls up a seat and listens to the explanation.
The Phantom Thieves had succeeded in changing Rin Sugimura's heart. Munehisa Iwai, who had been in charge of keeping Sugimura in one place, had lost him when the latter's driver attacked him.
The driver had placed Sugimura in the car, and driven off, despite Morgana's attempts at sabotage.
Sometime after that, the Phantom Thieves had left the Palace, and found themselves sinking into Tokyo Bay.
That meant Rin Sugimura's car was in Tokyo Bay.
They did not know why it was there.
They did not know where Rin Sugimura was.
They did not know where the driver was.
"It's possible," Makoto says, nodding towards Iwai. "That they wanted to get rid of any evidence of your involvement. And so they got rid of the car."
"Pretty elaborate," Akira says. "If that's what they were going for. If they wanted to get rid of evidence of his being there, why did they let him go? Why not kill Iwai and take his body?"
"Exactly, the son of bitch could've sliced me apart, but he didn't," Iwai replies.
Makoto frowns. It had appeared the driver wanted to get Sugimura out of there as quickly as possible. Why drive the car into the Bay, then?
Haru shakes her head. "He's dead. I just know it. And it's our fault."
"No, it's not," Akira protests. "There's no way we could've predicted what would happen. Hell, we don't even know what happened."
"But why would the driver take the car into the Bay?" Sakamoto asks. "Did he get sick or something? Lose his shit?"
Iwai blinks, and a strange look passes over his face.
"What?" Makoto asks.
"When he was fighting me, I noticed there was some shit leaking out of his nose. I thought it was blood, but I don't know. He was tough, and I didn't get any good hits on him. None that I can remember." He stares up at the ceiling. "It was weird."
No one says anything. Then, Akira asks, "Was it black?"
Iwai frowns. "Black?"
Akira nods. "Black."
"It was dark. I couldn't tell."
Takamaki leans across the table towards Akira. "You think it was a mental shutdown?"
"For real?" Sakamoto asks.
The cat meows a few times.
Akira shakes his head. "I don't know. Maybe? Could it be possible?"
"The hell are you talking about?" Iwai demands.
Makoto leans back and crosses her arms. "Mental shutdowns. The phenomenon that's been occurring across the city for the past few months."
"But why trigger the mental shutdown in the driver?" Takamaki asks. "This isn't like the subway."
"Maybe they wanted to get rid of Rin," Haru mutters. "Maybe they wanted to-"
"Hold on," Akira says, and pats the air with his hands. "We're doing it, again." He looks at Makoto. "What did you call it? Forming a hypothesis or going backwards or something?" Makoto opens her mouth, but Akira continues to talk. "We don't know what happened. For all we know, Iwai saw the guy get a nosebleed. We shouldn't be assuming that he had a mental shutdown." He nods, and stares at the counter, looking more and more convinced. "Besides, what would be the point? To get rid of Sugimura?"
"To get rid of us, dude," Sakamoto replies, a touch of panic in his voice.
Akira shakes his head. "But Ryuji, no one knew we were in there. No one but the people in this room and Yusuke. Sugimura only got a few seconds to read the Calling Card, and Iwai knows he didn't get to tell anyone else. Even if it was a mental shutdown, it couldn't have been meant for us."
Makoto listens as Akira's voice becomes calmer and calmer as he speaks. She watches as his words seem to infect the group, bringing the tension down, bit by bit. "Still," she says. "We need to know what happened. That car wound up in the Bay, somehow. Knowing why would allow us to determine if it was a mental shutdown or not, and if it was, it could provide us insight into the cause."
"What'd you mean?" Akira asks.
"If this was a mental shutdown," Makoto continues, thinking. "It wasn't done as an obvious one. There was no massive scene caused by it. No train catapulting out of a subway tunnel. Just a car driving off a lonely dock into the Bay. Maybe it's not meant to be seen as a mental shutdown, but a suicide, or an accident." She smiles. "If we could determine if this was a mental shutdown, we could investigate it. No one knows the Phantom Thieves were involved with Sugimura, except for Sugimura, if he's alive. You could leverage that into an advantage.
Haru whimpers, and Makoto shuts her mouth. "I'm sorry, Haru," she says, quickly. "I didn't mean to sound so insensitive, and-"
"It's alright," Haru says. "You're probably right. But I don't think Rin is alive. I don't know how I can tell, but I just feel like I can. He's dead."
#
Kagawa stands up, places his hands on his hips, and bends backward until his spine cracks satisfactorily. He lets out a low moan, pivots on his legs to wake them up, and then plops back down into his seat.
Getting too old for this, he thinks. It's an automatic thought, one that just happens with no real preparation behind it. The truth is that he isn't too old for his job, he's just too old to be sitting in a chair for long stretches of time. His body doesn't exactly support the activity, or lack thereof.
He flips through the casefile once more, studying it for any inconsistencies.
His phone rings. He brings it to his ear and intones, "Kagawa."
"Hey Detective," comes the voice on the other end. "It's Koto."
Kagawa nods. Another old timer, one who has been on the beat for a long time. Longer than me, actually.
"Hey, how are you?" He asks.
"Pretty good. You?"
"Can't complain."
"Uh-huh. Listen, word is you've been keeping an eye out for info on that Sugimura kid. Rin?"
Kagawa blinks. "Yeah, actually. It's for a family friend. Why?"
"I'm down by the Bay. There's a few reports coming in of a car driving straight into it."
"Wait. A car drove into the Bay?"
"According to a few witnesses who were passing by, yeah. At least, they think it was a car. A big black limousine, rocketing down the dock. They didn't see much after that apparently."
Kagawa begins to feel something curl around in his gut. "Lots of cars like that in Tokyo."
"Right," Koto replies. "But I remembered hearing that that Sugimura kid drove around in a car just like it. I went back and checked some traffic cams. I can't confirm it's the same car, but... well, turns out Rin Sugimura's car was sighted in the general vicinity shortly before the car went under."
"Shit," Kagawa says.
"Yeah," Koto replies. "I'm calling in a dive team to head down there. Want me to keep you posted?"
"Please," Kagawa says.
"Alright." Koto is silent for a time, but Kagawa can hear the soft crackle feedback from the other end. "You don't think this has anything to do with that family friend of yours', do you?"
"No," Kagawa replies, immediately. "Definitely not. Still, keep me in the loop, yeah?"
"You got it. Take care of yourself."
The line goes dead.
Kagawa leans back in the chair, and stares down at his phone. "Shit," he repeats.
#
There's a knock on the door.
"Yeah?" Kaneshiro calls.
It opens and Nanashi steps inside. He shuts it behind him. "Just got a call, Boss."
Kaneshiro leans forward, hands clasped together. "Well?"
Nanashi's smile is always something to behold. "They say the Sugimura kid went for a swim. They say he hasn't come back up yet."
Kaneshiro nods and leans back in his seat. He sets his hands on the armrests and taps the leather with his fingers. "Keep an eye on it. Just to be safe."
"Right," Nanashi says and turns to go.
"One more thing," Kaneshiro says. His soldier turns back to him. "If that headache is well and truly remedied, it'll be time to move."
Nanashi stiffens. "Who do you want to handle things?"
Kaneshiro looks up into his eyes.
Nanashi nods. "Got it." His smile this time has less amusement in it.
##
A/N: Whew... sorry about that delay, had to rework some things.
That's the end of June 18th! What a day. What a day. Hope you all enjoyed it!
Quick announcement, I think I'll be taking a break from posting until after the holidays. I've got to head to my in-laws next week, and then I've got to fly down to Nashville for a wedding, so I won't have much time to write. Just want to say, thank you, as always! I'm very glad to have you all as readers, and I hope you continue to enjoy Crimson.