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How long has it been since I last updated? Well, long enough, I suppose. Caught up with everything else. So to make up for it, here's the next chapter.
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"Good morning!" Kari sailed into Sora's office, bringing with her two cups of coffee. A rather wise foresight, considering Sora's morning personality to her normal attitude was like hell-fire to candlelight.
"Knock." Sora looked up from a confession report and glared at the overly cheerful girl.
Her younger colleague wrinkled her nose. "It's not like you're awake enough to do anything important, anyway," she pointed out.
"Knock," Sora deadpanned.
"I mean, you're always zoning out in the morning—I'm too important to have to knock! I am life!"
"Knock."
But Kari, long accustomed to the detective's mood swings, grinned cheekily and plopped into the chair by Sora's desk. "What makes you think that I'd ever do that?"
"Blind hope?"
Kari laughed and held out a mug. "This'll make you human again."
"Aren't you little Miss sunshine today? Who'd you humiliate this time?" Sora took the mug and moved her attention to the map she held in her hands.
"Tai, who else?"
Sora arched her eyebrow. "Isn't it a little immoral to scam money off your own brother?"
The brown-haired girl laughed. "Aren't you the one to talk? Besides, Tai brought it upon himself. He was insisting that he found a way around me, and I took him up on it, and…well…" she trailed off, grinning.
Sora continued, "And now he's a little short on donut money."
"Right." The notorious card-shark showed her pointy fangs.
Sora frowned at the map, staring at it hard enough to burn a hole through the plastic. She had marked the places where they had located Sayonara hideouts. There was the dock warehouse in the west, and another shady location further east. The gang was lightly scattered all over Odaiba, yet they still hadn't found the main headquarters, after all those raids.
She attempted to recall what the mysterious blue-eyed man had said to her in the train station last week. Something about keeping an eye on the other side of town?
Upon checking the said area, she noted that the sprinkling of headquarters there was lighter than the other places. They hadn't drawn much attention to themselves over there, but who would? That area was mostly rural, nothing exciting, but pretty un-patrolled by the police station there.
She scowled. That didn't mean anything. The infamous Sayonara couldn't be that obvious.
She froze. Wait—
The door banged open. "Helloo, ladies!" Tai barreled in. "I have donuts!" he sang, sending his sister a rather triumphant look. "And they're delightfully jelly!" he brought them out with a flourish.
Izzy, who had a particular weakness for jellied donuts, followed the large-haired man into the room. "Donuts!" he demanded. "Hungry!"
Sora looked amused at Izzy's inability to form sentences with more than one word whenever jelly donuts were present. "Why do you choose my office as a gathering point of chaos?"
"We minions of the Hell Donut need no reason to bring chaos upon the unwary!" Tai declared, opening the box and dancing around the small office as well as he could. He promptly tripped upon the nearest thing he could trip on—his own two feet.
Luckily, Kari had the presence of mind to anticipate her brother's little fall and caught the donuts. The girl laughed and reclined in her chair. "You're getting old, Tai. You'd have never let these donuts fall."
Sora frowned, trying to ignore the scent of the sweet circles of flavored bread. "And what makes you think that I'd let you spread crumbs around my office?" she demanded.
Kari paused, trying to think. "Your intensely overwhelming affection for your colleagues whom you cannot live without?" she guessed.
Sora folded her arms. "Try a little harder. Why should I let you eat here? I shouldn't allow you guys to dirty up my office, even for donuts."
Then her stomach protested, sending out a hungry grumble. Sora looked a little harried, and she burst out, "Fine, fine! Go ahead! Make my office a breeding ground for bacteria!"
"Like it isn't already?" Tai muttered, earning a scarlet glare.
"Your wish is our command, Detective!" Kari grinned, reaching for a donut.
Sora quickly swatted the officer's hand away. "Provided I get first pick," she said smugly and swiftly scooped up the most coveted donut.
"Sora!" everyone wailed.
"I wanted that!" Tai whined, looking on the verge of a tantrum. "Give it to me now! It's my box!"
Sora arched her eyebrow at him and deliberately bit into the donut with exaggerated slowness. "Mmm…heaven in a mess of flour, yeast and sugary goodness…" She winked.
The three other senior officials glared at her. She held up her hands. "Hey, it's my office, Hell Minions. Besides, there's one more left, I think," she added, stepping back.
Thus setting off a mad scramble for the donut box on the table as everyone else dove to get the last. Sora watched with mild amusement, chewing her donut as Kari seemed to be getting the upper hand.
The door suddenly swung open and the Inspector strode in. The contenders for the donut box froze in mid-grab and hurriedly straightened.
"What's with all the noise?" Ken looked around and moved to Sora's table, where everyone was clustered. "Detective, we have questioned all of the men captured last week. None of them appear to know nothing of where the main hideout might be situated." He looked disgusted. "They were all kept in the dark by the mastermind."
"Knock next time, Ichijouji." Sora leaned back, furrowing her brow as she swallowed the last of her donut. "They weren't important then. Merely hired help or ignorant initiates."
Ken nodded, shrugging. "It certainly seems that way. Most of the men were young fools."
Tai, Kari and Izzy began to sidle away. Ken gave them a look and they stayed put, each alternately looking furtively at the much fought-over jelly donut and glaring at each other.
Sora sighed, putting her feet up on her chair. "So we have to start all over again?" she asked in a resigned voice.
The dark-blue haired man shook his head, his eyes becoming intent. "Not quite. We have a tentative lead this time. A woman by the name of Tachikawa seems to know something, but we cannot ascertain the validity of her statement. Intelligence hasn't come up with a full report on the woman."
Sora looked at him warily, but Izzy cut in, his capability to let out complete sentences restored to him for the moment. "What information can the woman provide, Ken?"
Ken trained his violet eyes on the Chief of Intelligence. "She informs me that she has a way to help in identifying who the ringleader is."
"It sounds dubious," Kari mused.
"Very," Ken agreed. "But a lead is a lead. We can't dismiss even the slightest clue with this gang." He turned back to Sora. "I trust that you will undertake the task of interviewing Ms. Tachikawa?"
Sora nodded, her eyes lighting up. "I will do whatever you ask me to, Chief," she drawled.
Ken winced at that. "No shackles, Sora. The first scream I hear coming from your office, you're fired."
The detective visibly sagged at that. "You can't fire me, Ken. I'm an independent."
Ken smirked. "You don't know how many ways I can put you out of work for life, Sora. Trust me. No shackles." He straightened. "The meeting will be at four or so tomorrow. I am informed that she might be a tad late, but you can be assured that Ms. Tachikawa will arrive."
Sora remarked, "She'd better be there tomorrow, because I confess that I'm curious to hear her out."
Ken nodded, "She will be there." As he turned to leave, he stopped. "Donuts?" He raised a questioning eyebrow.
"They're Tai's!" Kari exclaimed. Tai vehemently shook his head, although it was rather obvious it was his—he was the station's supplier of donuts.
Ken shrugged, deciding not to press the point—arguing with the Kamiyas would give anyone a headache. He picked up a donut. "Then if no one owns it, I suppose I may be allowed to have one." He took a bite. "Delicious."
Much to everyone but the now-blissful inspector and the irascible detective's dismay, the donut Ken was delightedly chewing on was the one everyone had fought for earlier.
Things pretty much went downhill from there.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Life for Toki Hidenaki had resumed its normal pace, although exactly how normal it usually was couldn't be defined. Certainly, she still went to school, after a day or so of recuperation insisted by her parents, although Toki certainly didn't need any. As far as she knew, and she knew a lot, she was fine, mentally and spiritually. Her bruises ached a little, but they weren't a major hindrance in any way.
In school, everyone crowded around her, asking annoying questions about her abduction. Toki tried her best to answer her classmates, but to be frank, she didn't see much of her captors or anything else, as she spent most of her time blindfolded. Eventually, her curious horde of classmates faded away, leaving her alone.
Not that Toki minded. The girl pretty much preferred to be left alone. She liked it better that way, and she always had. She didn't have many friends at school, but that was fine with her. None of them bothered to understand her, anyway.
Toki was walking home from her elementary school a week later. Her face was carefully blank, and she knew that others only saw a small girl with straight black hair and bright green eyes walking with her head down.
Little did they know.
Toki was different.
Not different in the special children kind of way. She was not the same as everyone else. She had something special burning inside her, something she grew to call the Fire. It was something she saw rarely in people but when she did, the Fire was never really that big.
The Fire was in her ever since she was born to her mother, a keeper of a shrine. She had played with it as a small child whenever no one was around, and it helped her See and Know things.
The first time she had seen another with a bit of the Fire, she was surprised to see that theirs were merely drips of it. None had the raging bonfire she had, and theirs were quite different. She had to keep hers away from theirs or they would know she had it, and she knew that no one else could bear her Fire. Only she could withstand these Flames.
Right then, she knew that she was different, from all the children and from all the Fire carriers.
But what was she?
Toki sighed and moved her thoughts away from that to school. She was given no assignments for the day, so she wondered how she would spend her time. She was one of the top students in her third grade class, a by-product of her frequent trips to the libraries.
She walked slowly, carrying her books carefully as she moved down the sidewalk. What would Father be cooking at home tonight?
She didn't wonder anymore how she knew the moment she thought about it that her father would be making tonkatsu. She was never wrong in her guesses, although her father never kept a food plan. She knew it would be tonkatsu and miso soup from the convenience store down the road. Possibly a few French fries if he was feeling foreign.
Her black hair fell into her eyes, and she brushed it away with one hand. Her fingers swept against a bruise on her eyebrow and she winced. It still hurt, like the rest of her.
The men who kidnapped her were very liberal with their blows.
Toki rounded the corner and realized that this was where she was kidnapped. She remembered: she was walking home from school, exactly like today, and when she turned down the corner, a car sped up to the curb, its door opening. A hand grabbed her and pulled her in the car. Before she knew what was happening, her senses had dulled and faded.
Which was odd enough. Even when she was sleeping, Toki still retained conscious use of her five senses. Something had taken away her senses with Fire.
Then she woke up blindfolded and aching. The kidnappers had given her many bruises, but only bruises. She had said nothing, only lifted her head, then they started beating her.
They did it a lot. The police thought it was because she never looked afraid or anything. But Toki knew better.
The kidnappers wanted a powerful reaction from inside her. A man in the warehouse had a powerful aura, and he seemed schooled in the arts—he was the man who had put her to sleep when they took her. He had always ordered them to beat her up when she was rested.
He wanted to see the Fire. He had a bit of it in himself.
How did he know she had it? Toki wondered. She had hidden herself well—how could they have found her?
"Is that you, Toki?" a clear male voice suddenly asked the pensive girl.
Toki looked up, smiling and unsurprised. "Cody!"
The young college student leaning on the fence winced. "That's Iori to you, Toki. I don't even know where you got Cody," he remarked, his green eyes twinkling merrily at her.
Toki grinned at her second cousin, Iori Hida. "Of course, Cody."
Cody rolled his eyes, which soon became serious. "How are you, Toki?"
Toki knew he was pertaining to her latest adventure. She smiled wanly and showed him her bruise. "I've been better. It was exciting, though."
"Of course," Cody replied dryly, letting the subject drop when he saw the discomfort in Toki's eyes. "I'll walk with you."
The two relatives walked along together in companionable silence. Toki looked up at Cody.
In many ways, they resembled each other. Both of them had shiny black hair and angular emerald eyes. Although he was a college student and she was in the third grade, they both acted older and wiser than others their ages. They both preferred silence to noisy merrymaking and were the only ones in their extended family who felt this way.
Both of them also had the Fire.
There was no doubt that Toki's was far more powerful than her cousin's, although his Fire was in no means weak or insignificant. Comparing Cody's Fire to other Fire-carriers' would show that Cody was powerful in his arts, and although Toki outstripped her cousin in power, she didn't know much about what to do with this immense power. Cody was well-schooled in the usage of the Fire.
It was comforting to talk to him, and they were the closest in their families. The only secret they kept from each other was the Fire. Toki knew of Cody's but she somehow hid hers from him. She didn't want him to know just yet.
Her power was different from his as well. She knew very well that he didn't sense strange spirits and dream of different lands and walking with divine beings in worlds completely different. He didn't wake up from sleep to find himself somewhere else and glowing.
She did. All the time. She knew she didn't belong here—but where she did, she didn't know. Nowhere on earth, she had assumed. There was something in her that longed for—
BEEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
Cody winced and reached into his bag to draw out a sleek black cell phone. "'Scuze me, Toki," he muttered and flipped it open. "Yes, Hida here," he answered in a professional tone.
Toki listened absently to her second cousin as they walked down the sidewalk.
"Yes…yes, she should. Tell her…I've got the passes. They're ready—how many…? Is Mimi on her way yet? Right now? ...Good…Yeah. All right. I need the results tomorrow. Tell her to call me after the session. Goodbye." He snapped the phone shut and grinned apologetically at Toki. "Sorry."
"That was Yolei, wasn't it?" Toki asked, although she didn't really need to. She knew it was Miyako Inoue, Cody's friend and colleague, who was on the other end of the phone conversation. "How is she?"
"She's fine—wait a second." Cody frowned, looking surprised. "How did you know she was on the other end?" He paused again and laughed helplessly. "Never mind, cousin. I do not think I want to know just yet."
"Of course," she replied, replicating his remark perfectly and beaming innocently at him.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Tappity-tap. Tappity-tap.
Sora drummed her fingers impatiently against her desk as she waited for the informant to arrive. Her eyes watched the clock and the door alternately. She had been waiting. Ms. Tachikawa (she had neglected to ask Ken what the woman's first name was) wasn't late—no. Sora was simply early. She was eager to hear anything that may be a lead to the downfall of Odaiba's foulest.
Perhaps eager was too mild a word: Her fingers led a staccato beat against the rich wood of her desk. Her foot tapped incessantly against the floor and her eyes kept darting to and from the clock and the door.
High-strung was the least one could say about her disposition at that moment.
She glanced at the clock again and sighed.
Tai swept into the room with his ever-present box donuts. He was cheekily munching on a chocolate-covered donut, looking like the cat that got the cream. He looked at her and he announced, grinning: "Miss Tachikawa might be a bit late—"
"WHAT??" Sora exploded, shooting up from her seat and slamming her palms against the table.
Tai burst into laughter. "Just kidding," he quipped, earning a venomous glower and several finger twitches from Sora's direction. He swallowed the last of his donut and let out a breath satisfactorily. "You looked like you were intending to wear out fingernail holes in your desk, and I don't advise anything on it—finger holes might make fine pencil holders, but that's good wood."
Sora glared at him, reaching below her desk to come up with a little four-inch pistol in her hand. "You're a dead man, Kamiya." She snapped the safety off warningly.
"We are all born dying, aren't we?" Tai asked philosophically, shrugging, sounding surprisingly wise. "People with guns just help get us there faster."
Sora groaned and returned the safety, holstering the gun back under the desk. "It's no use talking to you like this," she muttered. "You'll just thank me after I shoot you in the kneecaps. Besides, this is a smart moment for you. You don't get many of those."
Taichi flung himself into a seat as he flipped the cover of his donut box open again. He scanned its contents with as much concentration a rocket scientist placed into his work and plucked out a donut with great relish. He gazed at it lovingly as he remarked, "I should be insulted. But I'm too overwhelmed by the beauty of this delectable donut to waste thoughts on being offended. No, my mind remains focused on this delightful roll of sweet and tasty—not to mention fresh and probably life-threatening for the old—donut."
Sora rolled her eyes and resumed her finger-drumming. Tai ogled his donut some more, then began to chew it, sighing happily. "Want one? They're still hot and soft and fresh from the oven…"
Sora shook her head and leaned back. "I'd probably hurl it all out—too excited to hold anything down, you see. I probably wouldn't taste it, anyway—blasphemous thought, eh? Right now, I think I could chew wood and spit out sawdust."
Tai raised an eyebrow. "I noticed." His eyes grew starry. "Wouldn't it be funner, though, if it was the other way around?"
Sora arched her eyebrow as well. "Funner?" she echoed.
Kari popped her head in the doorway and announced, "Ms. Tachikawa just entered the front gate, if you'd like to know." Sora brightened up, her fingers speeding its rhythm. She eyed the red-haired detective. "What's with you, Sora? You look like a frog in a dung pile."
Sora looked offended. "Don't you normally reserve those kind of descriptions for Tai?" she complained, then paused. "That's a really disgusting thing, by the way."
Kari shrugged. "Whatever fits," she drawled and disappeared from the doorway, presumably to go look for someone to scam money from.
It hit Sora then. She glanced at Tai. "Did she just say that I looked like a frog?" she demanded, rounding on the hapless agent. "Is that's what she's telling me? You should know—she's your sister, after all. Do I look like a frog? And what did she mean by dung pile?"
The unfortunate Tai was truly unfortunate, for he hadn't been listening at all, caught up with the heavenliness of what used to be a donut rolling around in his mouth. Sora's sudden barrage of angry questions came unexpectedly, startling him from his mental prose.
"Ummm…yes?" he offered.
"OUT!!!" Sora roared, standing up with another firearm—a hunting rifle this time, loaded with blanks—and fired at the ceiling which was riddled with little black dents, ample evidence that Sora hadn't always used blanks in her little bursts of anger.
Tai left immediately.
Sora took a deep breath and sat down again.
Tai's big bushy head peeked out from around the doorframe and he asked meekly, "Can I get my donut box back? I left it on the chair—"
"Out!" Sora yelled, firing again. Tai was gone.
Bits and pieces of the ceiling crumbled down and tumbled onto the floor. Sora looked up and saw Izzy looking down the hole, holding a cup of coffee. When he saw that it was her, he went: "Oh. Figures."
Sora looked up at him wearily. "Sorry." Izzy shrugged and wandered out of vision.
Now that there were no more distractions, Sora gratefully resumed her finger-tapping. Several minutes later, just as she was about to go insane with impatience, there was a soft knock at the door.
"Come in," Sora said abruptly, fingering her rifle in case it was Tai again.
The door creaked open—Sora decided that she had to do something about that; she heard it too often, as people kept barging in and out of her office and it was beginning to get on her nerves—and a woman stepped into Sora Takenouchi's office.
They gaped at each other for a few moments.
"Mimi?"
"Sora?"
"You're the informant?" Sora asked incredulously, quickly stuffing her rifle back into its hiding place.
The woman nodded. "Unfortunately. But I'm glad it's you I'll be talking to. I was given the impression that I'd be meeting some sort of ogress." She laughed.
"By whom?" Sora questioned with a slightly dangerous edge to her tone.
Mimi answered, not realizing what Sora's tone meant: "Some guy with brown hair and no gravity force around it. Very big poofy hair."
"With a newly opened box of donuts on one hand?" Sora asked warily. "Eyes slightly glazed over? Chewing first a sugar-glazed donut with sprinkles?"
Mimi nodded, looking slightly confused. "Yes. How did you know?"
Sora's eyes narrowed to slits and she stabbed her finger viciously on the intercom button. "Taichi Kamiya!" she hollered. To hell with everyone who'd hear (which was probably everyone within a five-mile radius—she was that angry). "You'd better scrape up some good reason explaining just why I shouldn't shove my gun up your ass!"
Mimi looked rather pale, Sora noticed, as she returned to her seat.
"Are you all right?" Sora inquired solicitously. "Hungry? Thirsty? Need a bit of exercise?"
Mimi regained her color and answered, "I'm fine. Thank you, though."
Sora grinned broadly. "Think nothing of it. I wouldn't want my informant to suddenly die of thirst, hunger, or high levels of cholesterol before I get my hands on that information." She paused and rested her elbows on the table, pensively cupping her chin against one hand. "Excuse me for wondering, though. I knew a Ms. Tachikawa was going to be coming here—but I didn't know that you were her as well."
Mimi spread her hands with some embarrassment. "The information is important. There are at least twelve other Tachikawas in the phone book who I am of no relation to."
"You guarded yourself well, then, I suppose," Sora admitted. "And for what secret information? What do you have for me?"
Sora had many questions she wanted to ask but at the moment, they weren't of any consequence and she knew she would sit better (and stop tapping her foot) when the info was spread out neatly before her. Besides, although she was no doctor, she was certain that 125 beats per minute was NOT good for anyone's heart.
Mimi grimaced. "All right. I'll spit it out."
"That would be advisable," Sora told her. "It's not that wise to be sitting on all that important information in the middle of an investigation."
Mimi shrugged. "OK. You know, of course, that whoever is at the head of the Sayonara gang probably has enough bread to keep a country eating for a month or so, right?"
Sora nodded, folding her arms thoughtfully on her desk. "To fund any possible plots, bribes or cover-ups. Of course."
Mimi bobbed her head but she frowned. "I've been told that the cops believe them a completely lower-class organization. Why is it that you believe that the leader is rich and powerful?"
Sora was quiet for a moment, then she stated, "The proposition held no water for me—and the rest of the people in this building, for that matter. I found that idea illogical and ridiculous. The ringleader can't be some aggressive country bumpkin—no peasant farmer knows that much about the social society and which strings to pull."
Mimi grinned. "Exactly."
Sora leaned forward. "So you know who the head of the organization is?" She sighed. "I owe Tai ten bucks."
Mimi laughed, looking slightly uncomfortable. "You should have asked for more than ten bucks," she admitted.
Sora's face fell. "So you don't." She made a face. "I should be happy. Ten bucks goes a long way to buy a hotdog."
Mimi smiled sheepishly. "I know the next best thing, though. You know about Hataro Tsukichi's little gala this week, don't you?"
Sora pursed her lips, furrowing her brow in thought. "I think I've heard Kari mention it before—she's one of my colleagues. Why?"
Mimi grinned widely. "I've gotten my hands on the guest list, and many of the crème of society will be there, along with several baddies whose names aren't to be ignored. You can almost bet that the bad boss of the mob would be there, trading idle stock gossip with the rest of them. Turning down Tsukichi's invitation is up there with mortal sin and is just as dangerous as sticking a honey-coated finger into a fire anthill."
Sora frowned, looking over the list and seeing that Mimi was right. There were many invited who were rich but disreputable. "That would be like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack. Hardly any of them aren't corrupt money swindlers. Nothing would give the guy away."
The door opened suddenly and Inspector Ken Ichijouji walked in calmly to the door's accompaniment of grating squeaks.
"Inspector!" Sora glared at him. "Eavesdropping isn't nice. And knock next time."
Ken nodded mildly, unperturbed by her irritated frown and greeted them as though Sora had merely inquired about the weather. Then he rummaged around his pocked and came up with several slips of fancy-looking paper. He handed them to her wordlessly.
Sora looked down at them:
You are invited to Mrs. Hataro Tsukichi's evening gala
Below that flamboyant piece of lettering were the dates, address and hints of black-tie affairs. Formal dresses and the like. Sora frowned and looked back up at Ken.
"The gala is this Saturday at six in the evening," he said smoothly before she could say anything. "You will take Taichi, Hikari, Koushiro and Ms. Tachikawa. I will accompany you as well. Wear a dress—it's a formal event."
Sora gawped at him for a moment.
"What?" she finally made out with some difficulty. It's hard to say anything, no matter how monosyllabic, when your mouth is stuck hanging wide open. She hinged her jaw and tried again. "What the hell are you talking about, Ken?"
He seemed slightly exasperated, although it didn't show much. She could swear that Ken could give that James Bond fellow a run for his money. "You, Sora," he explained patiently, "will attend Mrs. Tsukichi's gala. The three of your colleagues and I will accompany you, along with Ms. Tachikawa. We will attempt to winnow our way through Odaiba's finest upper-class and attempt to get to know them. It is a formal event, which means no denim jeans and jacket. You will wear a dress."
"What about khakis?" It slipped out of Sora's mouth.
"No khakis, Sora."
It finally dawned on Sora what Ken told her to do. "No way, Ken!" she exploded. "Don't you think that it would be an impossible task? We're grabbing at straws here! "
Ken passed a weary hand over his eyes before stating, "Sora, we may be grabbing at straws, but there are too few straws for us to make it undecisive about this. And anyway," he added. "It takes a lot of effort for anyone to become even a close acquaintance to you—you won't be leaving the party with a new best friend." He looked at her speculatively. "Black, I think. Or maybe cream."
"What?" Sora asked waspishly.
"Your dress, Sora." Ken smiled faintly. "You can't attend in sweatpants."
Sora scowled sullenly. "I like sweatpants. They're more comfortable."
Mimi looked at Sora as well. "Black, definitely," she announced. "I know where to find the perfect dress." She grinned at Ken. "You don't have a bad eye, Ichijouji."
He shrugged. "It was either that or green—red and green can go together, I've noticed."
Mimi appeared to be skeptical. "Like Christmas, I suppose?"
Ken seemed slightly offended. "It works."
Sora then moaned, "Oh, God!" and buried her face into her arms.
************
Too lazy for the yes's and no's.
What? It's late. Things pick up later, but then I suppose you'd expect that, since a major event has been mentioned. I mean, it's not like I'm just going to go on and on about how mysterious Blue-eyes is being or how heavenly a donut tastes.
I'd like to, but that's not the point.
The point is that this story will eventually get off its rear and start walking in the next chapter.
Or not.
Can't be sure.