Chapter 7: Traitor

The phone held in Shuichi's hand was silent. Worry crept up into his throat at every minute that passed without what he wanted.

Hey, I was wondering how you guys were doing

10:00 a.m.

Kaede?

10:30 a.m.

Is everything alright?

10:45 a.m.

I'm going to search for you guys if I don't get a response soon

11:00 a.m.

11:30 a.m. That was the current time. The young detective's leg bounced in an anxious fashion as he sat beside Himiko on his uncle's living room couch. The small girl was too fixated on the TV to notice. The laughter of the cartoon witch echoed out of the speakers mockingly as Shuichi turned his phone on again with trembling fingers. Still no messages.

Ten more minutes passed. The cartoon was about a team of witches who had to save the world. They traveled around on their flying broomsticks with their magical pets. It was a dream world, where they could accomplish anything through magic. How naive for Himiko-

Ding

Shuichi turned his phone on in a split-second, his heart pounding, then dropping when he read the message.

Maki

Shower won't turn on come here now

11:40 a.m.

Shuichi frowned, then slowly stood up. He climbed the carpeted stairs just as slowly, before reaching the bathroom door on the right. He twisted the handle of the flimsy door and pulled it open. His cheeks heated and he dropped his eyes to the teal-tiled floor when he realized Maki was standing in front of him, in only a towel. Her hair was let down from its pigtails, cascading around her like a veil of brown silk.

Maki sneered at his reaction. "Stop acting like you've never seen a girl before. Get the shower working, then get out." Shuichi nodded and hastily got to work. After a series of handle turnings and switch pullings, the water rained down from the showerhead at a comfortable warmth. Wisps of steam began to escape from the claw-footed tub.

Maki shoved the boy out of the way and placed a hand under the running water. She frowned, then turned the heat down. She seemed content only when the water was cold. She turned to Shuichi, who was watching her, making sure his work was deemed satisfactory. She nodded, and he turned to leave.

Before stepping out of the room, Shuichi noted the pile of red and black clothes lying near the doorway. He bent down to pick them up, but was stopped by a rough pinch between his shoulder blades. Maki had grabbed the back of his black sweater, and a bit of his skin, too.

"Leave it," Maki growled. Shuichi darted out of the room and shut the door behind him. The sounds of fabric being moved, then the shower curtain being closed, came from within. Shuichi went back to the living room.

"You missed the best part," Himiko said when Shuichi passed her. He shrugged and continued on to the kitchen. The TV erupted with the sounds of a magical battle. Shuichi opened a cupboard, shifting through its contents. His anxiety ate the hunger in his stomach. He closed the cupboard again, feeling sick at the thought of eating.

After a series of movements that Shuichi didn't even remember doing, he found himself standing by the front door, one hand on the doorknob. He jumped back, wondering what he had just done. It was foolish to think he could just leave like that! Especially with Maki… But Maki wasn't here now, was she? He could just avoid her. She would never know where he was really going.

"Hey, Himiko," Shuichi started. "Can you tell Maki I'm going to Rocketpunch again? I just wanna make sure we have enough water." She couldn't be mad at him for lying. Not when she was such a secretive girl herself.

"Nyeh," was Himiko's only answer. A cheer came out of the old television speakers.

"Thanks…" Shuichi mumbled as he walked out the door. It was raining. Not heavily, but not very lightly either. The sky was gray. Perfect weather for a search, Shuichi thought sarcastically. He pulled up the hood of his uncle's windbreaker. It smelled, but it was better than getting soaked. He stood on the edge of the porch, looking at the street and houses around him. Where to start? That was the question.

The answer came to Shuichi in a realization that made him feel sick to his stomach. It was inhumane, and practically illegal for him, not being a licensed law enforcement officer, but he guessed it was his only realistic shot at finding them. He turned on his phone, and after going through different menus, entering a series of passwords and codes, he was in the software his uncle had made him install. It was a form of tracking software, used by the detectives his uncle worked with. With recent technological advances, especially in Hope City, they were able to track down people with only a simple app. Of course, this app wasn't available to the public. It was only accessible after going through a long legal process. Detective Saihara, being the lead detective, found it easy to obtain this app whenever necessary. And to him, it was necessary to give it to his nephew, his detective-in-training.

Shuichi had vowed never to use it. But things were different now.

All it needed was a phone number and a signal, and the coordinates of the phone in question would be displayed. Shuichi quickly typed in the number of Kaede's phone. Her coordinates appeared within seconds. Shuichi blinked. That was it? It seemed too easy. Regardless, with his phone in one hand, he set off down the road. It seemed like Kaede was heading… into the industrial district? That was a strange place. Dangerous, too, with all of its machinery. He shrugged and continued on. If they were to be serious about searching for other people, they had to search everywhere, he supposed.

Inside the house, the sound of rain pattered on the roof and curtained the windows. Maki stood on the landing, with her old clothes back on, still damp. Like the rain outside, droplets of water dripped from her bangs and were absorbed into her red shirt. There was a single square window overlooking the street ahead. She watched the dark figure walk down the street, his face stuck in his phone. What a complete moron. Of course he wasn't going back to the store. But there was only one way to figure out where he was going.

Maki jumped to the ground on the first floor. Himiko's attention was drawn away from the credits of the obnoxious cartoon she was watching.

"Oh, Shuichi went to-" Himiko started.

"No he didn't."

"Huh?"

Maki was outside in a split second.

Shuichi had been walking for half an hour. He was tired, the rain dragging his spirits even further into the ground. Kaede was still in the industrial district. His anxiety grew. What if she had tried turning on a machine, then gotten pulled into it? What if she had gone into a warehouse and gotten crushed by falling objects? What if she had tried climbing the scaffolding of a construction site, then fell to her death?

Shuichi stomped in a puddle, the muddy water soaking his jeans even more. It was only twenty minutes more before he would find out what had happened to Kaede. Although, maybe he should be worried about Kaito instead? What if one of them had betrayed the other? Betrayed? He was acting like this was some sort of survival game, where there could only be one winner. Was that what it was?

Shuichi's thoughts swam around and around. Spinning, swirling, entangling one another in a web of confusion. They fogged his mind and consumed any remaining common sense. Suddenly, the world was gone. It was just Shuichi alone. In his mind, a void, with the thoughts that threatened insanity.

"Shuichi!"

He looked around in a panic. He was back in the real world. A rumble of thunder sounded somewhere in the distance. He found himself at the edge of the office district. He had been here many times, brought by his uncle on legal business. He checked his phone again. The coordinates and icon signaling Kaede's position were gone. How was that possible? Even if a phone was turned off, the location should still be displayed. This was a top-grade tool used by the Hope City detective force. There was no way it could fail like that!

"Shuichi!"

There was that voice again. It cried out for him in the distance. A bodiless voice. Images of ghosts, monsters, stalkers, flashed through his mind. He found his limbs trembling. It was terribly cold, he just realized. And he was terribly frightened.

"Shuichi!" The voice screamed, even louder than before. Then, he noticed it. Two figures were running through the sheets of rain towards him. His hand jerked toward the gun at his hip. When had he put that there again?

"Thank god!" Another voice shouted. The figures reached him. It was Kaede and Kaito. But how had they gotten here so quickly? Kaede's signal had been so far away.

"It's just you two..." Shuichi let out a deep breath. "I was so worried. I tried texting, but-"

"You won't believe what happened!" Kaede's hands were suddenly on his shoulders. "There were these two boys. They beat us up and took everything from us! I don't know what's going on, Shuichi!" He could hear the despair straining her voice, and see it on her face.

"What?" Shuichi asked.

"Yeah. Total weirdos. One had green hair, and lots of piercings. He's stronger than he looks. The other one was a tiny dude. Had a black and white scarf on," Kaito said. "Took our phones, wallets, and whatever else they could find. Shit. We need to find them. I'd bet they're behind all of this!"

"Okay…" Shuichi exhaled again. This explained the signal mystery, however horrible it was. "Do you have any idea where they went?"

"No idea. We rushed outside, but they were already gone. They might've even been… ghosts," Kaito said with a frightened flash across his face.

Shuichi closed his eyes. There was no way to track them, unless the signal somehow recovered. He doubted it, though. This was more than just a glitch in the system, if he knew anything about the way the software worked. He could always do it the old fashioned way, and follow any physical trace of the thieves to wherever they went. But the rain most likely washed away anything major. He clenched his teeth together. What a useless detective he was! Not even able to offer any suggestions as to how to recover a few missing objects.

"Shuichi, it's okay," Kaede suddenly said. Shuichi opened his eyes. Her hands were still on his shoulders, and he just realized how tense he felt. He let his shoulders slump, and Kaede smiled gently. "It's not your fault that we got robbed. You couldn't have done anything anyways, so don't stress about it too much. This is a job for me and Kaito to solve. I'm just glad you're here now. It makes me feel better."

"Yeah, she's right," Kaito added. "It would be awesome if you wanted to help us, but you're probably busy with other things right now. Those punks will stand no chance against Kaito Momota, anyways!" He laughed.

Despite himself, Shuichi found a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "I'm glad to hear that. I really want to help. I'm just not sure where to start. We know nothing about those two, so I guess we could try criminal records and pictures at the station. It's worth a shot if those two are repeat offenders."

"They sure knew what they were doing," Kaito said. "So probably. Good idea, partner." He patted Shuichi on the arm.

"Ah… thanks. I can do that myself. In the meantime, you might want to try checking the place you've been staying. There might be a clue there."

"Oh… About that…" Kaede said. "They took my keys, too. I locked the door before we left. And we don't have any spares. So…" She looked between the two boys. "We don't have a place to stay. I'm sorry."

Kaito shook off his look of shock after a moment. "Well… I mean… I'm sure we can find another place before tonight. There's gotta be an apartment or something that's unlocked. We can make that our base while we hunt down the thieves."

"True. But still, I won't feel as comfortable staying in a place that's not my own. It'll just make all this stuff feel even weirder, I think."

"Hold on," Shuichi interrupted. "If you wanted, you could stay at my place - well, my uncle's - for now. My one… friend… might have an issue with it, but I'll talk to her and convince her that you two are nice, and you mean no harm towards us."

Kaede's and Kaito's faces lit up like children who had just learned they were to go on a vacation. "Really?" "You're too nice, Shuichi." "But if it's too much trouble, we can find someplace else." "But we'd really appreciate it if we could." Their voices mingled and overpowered each other, until Shuichi could barely make out what either one was saying.

"Yeah, I think it should be fine," Shuichi gave them a smile. It definitely wouldn't be fine, but Maki would have to learn compromise sooner or-

"Absolutely not!" A voice that sounded strangely like the girl in question rang out. Shuichi turned, already knowing (and dreading) who was there. Maki, in the same outfit as yesterday, stood as still and silent as a statue silhouetted by rain and shadows. She was drenched, having apparently not seen the need for a jacket or umbrella. Her expression was one of pure fury. Its flame could have practically burned the raindrops away from her. Shuichi swallowed and waited.

"You idiot! What did I tell you about trusting others? Do you know these people? No, you don't! At least, not enough to trust them in a situation like this! If you got killed or kidnapped or anything, I would not even feel a bit bad for you! You deserve anything horrible that happens to you, Shuichi Saihara!" Maki spat.

"What's your problem?" Kaito shouted back before Shuichi could say anything. "You must be a real good friend with that attitude. Why would we wanna hurt Shuichi? He helped us!"

"Yeah, he's been nothing but nice to us! If we had wanted to kill him, wouldn't we have done it already?" Kaede added.

Maki sneered, looking between the two strangers. "Naive. That's what all of you are. None of you understand the gravity of any of this. Shuichi, I expected more from you. Being the nephew of a famous detective, I'm surprised you didn't learn more from him. He was cautious. He knew what he was doing."

"You knew my-" Shuichi started. "Wait, nevermind. That can wait until later. Listen, Kaede and Kaito were robbed, and they just need a place to stay for a while before they can get their stuff back."

"Robbed? Ha! That shows you how much trust goes in this world. If those two step foot into my house, I'll kill them."

"Kill them! Maki, that's too extreme! I wouldn't be able to live with myself, knowing I left them out here to fend for themselves, especially with what we've seen!"

"Well, I could."

"Don't you have any sympathy for others?"

"No, I don't."

Shuichi scowled. It was rare for him to feel this much hatred towards another. He felt like he wanted to punch Maki, or slap her, for all the ridiculous things she was saying. Maybe he would have, if he knew she couldn't hit him back ten times harder. That thought made him even angrier.

"Then you can leave, Maki!" Shuichi shouted before he fully knew what he wanted to say.

"Gladly." Maki shoved her way past the two strangers. "Have fun with your gang of friends, traitor. And don't come crying back to me when you get betrayed too."

With that, the girl took off into the rain. The storm continued, harder than ever.

Shuichi wondered if he had done the right thing.