Prologue
Do you ever get that feeling in your stomach that things aren't right with the world? Something like stage fright - but all the world's a stage. The butterflies aren't just in your stomach anymore. They're everywhere.
Ever since Ina-senpai and Subaru-senpai met with me and Ame-senpai in my house, I've had that feeling.
And it couldn't have come at a worse time, really.
Today, Ame-senpai and I are beginning our investigation of the South District. We have our new costume, courtesy of Ina-senpai. Ame-senpai got a fashionable white blouse, a matching black skirt, round glasses that I really like, a brown coat with golden trimmings and a cute little beret to top it all off. For me, I got a breezy white top, hand-stitched denim trousers and a fancy little straw hat.
In these costumes, Ame-senpai and I were no longer 'Amelon' and 'Erika'. We were new people with new identities.
The thing is… Ame-senpai was clearly out of it. I couldn't enjoy our cute costumes as much as I wanted - not when Ame-senpai's heart wasn't into our disguises.
Gosh, we couldn't even get around to making up new names for our new identities in the South!
I guess we're winging it.
This wouldn't be the first time.
We parted ways with Ina-senpai and Subaru-senpai, but the stuff Subaru-senpai and I saw probably lingered with Ame-senpai. She can't even hear my darn monologue right now, can you, Ame-senpai?
We took our ex-bird gang V8 car and Ame drove us to the South District. Past the border of South and Central, the rugged facade of town came to view. Factories, company offices and warehouses dotted the map. While the North was built around the dockyards, the South was built around the railroads.
Ame and I passed through a lot of railroad crossings and we… OH SHIT.
…
"AME! LOOK OUT!" Kiara cried.
"Huh?" The dazed Ame barely noticed Kiara.
Kiara swooped in from the passenger's seat, nudged Ame's foot off the accelerator. Then, she promptly slammed the brakes.
The car came screeching to a halt, barely missing the barriers of the railroad crossing. Moments later, two diesel freight trains came tumbling down the lines in opposite directions. All the while, the crossing chimes rang like death bells.
"Ame-senpai! Get a hold of yourself!" Kiara screamed at her partner, "You're gonna get us killed!"
Ame's face went pale. Her mind had been so distant that she lost track of where she was and what she was doing. If they had stayed on Ame's course, she and Kiara would have been crushed between the two trains.
That way, Ame and Kiara would have been on the front page of the newspaper - for the first and last time.
That, and our new costumes would have been totally ruined!
"I'm sorry, Kiara… I was just…" Ame tried to hobble together an excuse, but stopped herself halfway. Kiara's glare told her that she wasn't buying any of it.
The passing trains rumbled on. Kiara's patience dried up.
"I don't know what's going on through your mind right now, Ame-senpai, but we have a mission to accomplish." Kiara summarized sternly, wounding Ame with every point. The Phoenix then looked into Ame's eyes and demanded, "Let's switch seats. I'll drive to Swingwell. If you keep driving like this, we'll end up in Northern Elysium - one way or another."
"But I…" Ame stammered, barely able to put up a fight.
"Now, senpai." Kiara loomed over Ame like a vulture, "I'll take the wheel."
Left without a choice, Ame let Kiara take her seat.
The trains soon passed and the crossing barriers opened. Kiara restarted the car and they carried on to the Swingwell Trade and Freight Union's office on Industrial Way - the beating heart of the Deadbeats gang.
…
Swingwell's headquarters was a large compound on the main thoroughfare of Industrial Way. It had a three-story office building with a warehouse that straddled one of the City's many railroads. Billboards on the roof advertised the wide range of products that Swingwell imported into the city: from 'Yukihana' alcohol to 'Demon Lord' cigars to 'Halu' bottled water. Beside those billboards, there were new signs being propped up left and right.
Apparently, just like the Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery, Swingwell was supposedly hiring too. Droves of people were lined up, wrapping around the fence of the Swingwell compound.
However, Kiara knew that this was a ruse.
Before they parted ways with Ina and Subaru, Kiara asked their friends for whatever info they had on Swingwell. The company wasn't hiring and hasn't been hiring for a while, just like Lemon Shark. The Deadbeats, too, were preparing for war.
Kiara shared everything that she knew with Ame, but all she got was a halfhearted nod from time to time. At times like these, Kiara wished that she had Ame's perceptive eye and her experienced insights. Unfortunately, Ame barely said a word.
Turned out, she was going to have to wing their opening investigation too.
Kiara parked the car across the street from Swingwell. She dragged the lukewarm Ame along with her and lined up with the rest of the crowd.
It worked out for us at Lemon Shark. It might work out for us here!
The two undercover detectives moved with the crowd of Deadbeat aspirants towards the front entrance of the Swingwell compound. All the while, the two of them got their first up-close glimpses of the bona fide Deadbeat gangsters. If the Shrimps gang liked to wield fire axes, the Deadbeats preferred baseball bats.
And leather jackets.
Swingwell-brand baseball bats made with the finest imported hardwood from North Elysium. Swingwell-brand biker jackets made with 100% imported Shirogane leather.
Kiara laughed uncomfortably.
They're really committed to their branding huh?
The crowds moved again, so the two detectives went with the flow. On their way there, Kiara leaned over to Ame and whispered to her.
"So, about our South names…" Kiara started.
"I haven't thought of anything yet." Ame shut her down immediately.
"I can see the front gates, Ame." Kiara urged, "They're gonna ask us our names real soon - and we're gonna need an answer for them!"
"I know, but…" Ame sputtered into a halt again.
"Ame…!" Kiara had to stop herself from shouting.
"Maybe we should back out for now and strategize a bit more." Ame suggested, speaking sheepishly. She couldn't even look Kiara in the eye, "We've been going full throttle with this investigation. There might be things we have to reconsider."
The hesitation in Ame's voice and mannerisms took Kiara aback.
Was this really the same detective that I met at HQ that day? Just what in the world happened to you, Ame-senpai?
While Kiara was thinking of how she could coax a new name from Ame, a commotion broke out ahead of them in the crowd. A powerful voice was calling out to the crowd.
"Cut-off point for applicants is here!" The voice declared, "Anyone else after this point, we'll see y'all tomorrow. So, skedaddle!"
With that, the Deadbeat gangsters started dispersing the crowds. As the crowds thinned, Kiara saw the gangster who gave the order to send folks home.
She spotted a gaunt-faced man in a fancy, skeleton-themed leather jacket and a pink bandana - a man that was often on the headlines of the newspapers almost as much as Detective Kronii Ouro.
It was Death-sensei, the well-known and well-feared Lieutenant of the Deadbeats gang.
"Well, that's unfortunate." Ame said, but she looked clearly relieved, "So, let's get back to the car and…"
Before Ame could say anything else, Kiara grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her upstream through the dispersing river of people.
"H-hey, Ki-!" Ame managed to stop herself from saying Kiara's real name, "What are you doing!?"
"Getting us into the Deadbeats gang, partner." Kiara answered confidently. She gave Ame a gamely wink, "I told you I'd take the wheel today, didn't I?"
The two undercover detectives were suddenly stopped by a wall of Deadbeat gangsters and their baseball bats. Death-sensei noticed the confrontation and marched over to intervene.
"And what do we have here?" Death-sensei hummed, eyeing the disguised Ame and Kiara. He pointed to the handful of aspirants who were now inside the compound and repeated, "Cut-off point is all the way there, kids. Come back tomorrow if you want a job." He furrowed his brow and loomed over the two, "Push your luck and you might not make it out of here alive."
"Hey…" Ame tugged at Kiara's sleeve, "Let's get out of here."
Kiara didn't listen.
"My partner and I want to join the Deadbeats gang." Kiara stood her ground, looking Death-sensei in the eyes when she spoke, "We're not leaving until we're in."
"You have a death wish, kid?" Death-sensei folded his arms.
"I do, actually." Kiara grinned, "I want to see Calliope Mori. I'm her biggest fan!"
"Just about everyone who lines up here is a fan of the Boss." Death-sensei argued. He pointed to them patronizingly and asked, "Why do you think that I'd let a country bumpkin like you and your bookish friend with glasses through?"
"Why?" Kiara smirked, "Well, I think that I can beat you in a rap battle, Death-sensei."
The Deadbeat gangsters laughed around them. Death-sensei was a master of rhythm and rhyme - second only to Calliope Mori herself. The newspapers were filled with people who were broken - body and soul - by Death-sensei's sick beats. Ame shuddered and shifted around, looking for a way to get out of the powder keg that Kiara got them into.
However, Kiara wasn't backing down. Death-sensei eyed his challenger and raised up his hand, signaling the Deadbeats around them to shut up.
"It's not everyday that I have someone challenge me to rap." Death-sensei raised his brow and faced Kiara, " Very well. I accept your challenge, country girl. Before I wipe the floor with your tears, I want to know your name."
Kiara laid a hand over her chest and answered firmly.
"Call me 'Hinotori'."
…
Queenpins
Breaking Beats
…
To Be Continued