Prologue
I don't know how we did it. I didn't think that Ame and I would be able to pull it off - but we did. Right now, the two of us - as 'Hinotori' and 'Pudding' - were brought into the headquarters of Swingwell Trade and Freight Union. The beautiful Calliope Mori - and the bony stink-face with the bald spot called Death-sensei - walked us through the front doors.
Death-sensei kept glaring at me all the way through the lobby, but Calli snapped at him again and shut him up. Calli's probably got a tighter leash on Death-sensei than the leash Gura has on Bloop.
Still, if Irys' story is true, then that tight leash didn't stop Death-sensei from pulling off shenanigans under Calli's nose. Hopefully, Ame and I can get to the bottom of that - and the 'arms deal' I heard about too.
Isn't that right, Ame-senpai?
…
Kiara winked at Ame, and Ame winked back.
"Nice monologue." Ame praised in a whisper, "Short and sweet and to the point."
"You think so?" Kiara whispered back, "I'm glad - and I'm glad that you're feeling better, Ame-senpai. Good to have you back."
"Maybe I'm a Phoenix too?" Ame teased. She stuck out her tongue.
"You wish!" Kiara chuckled, "But you'd better tell me all about what was on your mind on our way home today, okay?"
"Yeah, yeah." Ame promised, "Let's get through today first, shall we?"
Kiara and Ame nodded to each other. With that, the two of them caught up with Calli and Death-sensei. They let the Queenpin of the Deadbeats and her Lieutenant show them around Swingwell Headquarters.
Unlike the Lemon Shark Fruit Cannery, the Swingwell compound was more of an office than a factory. There weren't any complex machinery that sprawled around the place, but there were cranes that unload cargo straight from the freight trains and forklifts that moved pallets of goods all around the place.
On the contrary, the most impressive feature of Swingwell, was the vast office space inside the building - rows upon rows of desks with seats, lamps and rotary telephones as far as the eye could see! Every square inch was packed tight with a Deadbeat gangster behind their desks to take calls and make calls.
Calli and Death-sensei walked them by those rows of desks. There, they heard the Deadbeats on the phone with their customers and suppliers.
Every Deadbeat working the phones was glib and charismatic. They were the type that could sell you a pen, rob you blind and then shake your hand over the telephone.
"A lot of our business here at Swingwell is done over the phone. We run a national operation - but our reach goes around the world." Calli explained to her two new favorite Deadbeats, "We gotta keep our customers happy. We gotta keep our suppliers happy. But most importantly…!" She clapped her hands and declared, "We gotta keep them coming back for more!"
Calli leaned over a desk and called out to her army of phonebook warriors to ask, "And why do our customers and suppliers keep coming back?"
All of the Deadbeats - and even Death-sensei - stopped whatever they were doing and answered in unison.
"BECAUSE IT'S ALL GOOD IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD!"
Calli applauded her vigorous workforce and let them get back to their work. The Queenpin turned around, patted Death-sensei's shoulder and then smiled at Kiara.
"I saw your rap battle with Death-sensei earlier, Hinotori." Calli explained happily, "You're a little rough around the edges. English probably isn't your first language, isn't it?"
Kiara nodded sheepishly.
"It's German." She answered.
"Oh, it's all good!" Calli beamed, "Doesn't matter where you start from here." She clenched her fist and insisted, "Put in the work and practice and you'll throw down with the rest of them."
"You really think so?" Kiara asked. Happiness was budding in her shimmering purple-pink eyes.
"I know talent when I see it - or rather, hear it!" Calli grinned.
"I-Is that so…" Kiara tugged on her collar, hiding her blushing face from her favorite Queenpin.
"Your friend Pudding came in clutch too." Calli gave Ame a thumbs up, "Teamwork is key in our business too. Looking out for your brothers and sisters is golden 'cause we operate on trust out here." She shrugged, "If you can't trust the people you work with, everything's gonna come tumbling down. It's gonna be ugly."
When Calli said this, Kiara and Ame swept through the desks of Calli's phonebook army. Just as they suspected, there were a few familiar names and faces working the phones at Swingwell. They were the same people that Subaru identified in her audit of the evening shift.
Hearing Calli talk about 'trust' in the midst of so many traitors made Kiara's and Ame's stomachs turn - but they didn't say a word. They didn't want to catch the eyes of those two-timing snakes, after all.
"Anyways." Calli brought the two new-hires aside, "You two lined up for our 'job application' today, so I assume you know what's going on." She pointed to the rows of phone desks behind her and whispered, "I hate to tell you, but we don't exactly have any openings on the phones."
"We understand what's going on, Boss." Kiara answered in a matter-of-factly voice, "Pudding and I saw people lining up like this at the Shrimps' factory up North too. Something big's about to go down - and we want to be on the winning side."
"Winning side, huh?" Calli wore a complex smile.
In Kiara's eyes, Calli looked pleased to hear the enthusiasm of 'Hinotori'. But at the same time, there was something else behind it that Kiara couldn't quite read.
Calli cleared her throat and continued.
"I'm looking for people who can take the diplomatic route - and work well in teams." Calli gestured to the handful of Deadbeat sluggers with baseball bats patrolling the headquarters, "I've got enough muscle - people who can fight and break people physically. But people who can defuse a situation? That's what I'm looking for right now."
"What do you mean by that, Boss?" Kiara asked.
Calli turned to Ame and Kiara and asked, "Did you two fight in The War?"
The undercover detectives raised up their hands.
"Army." Ame answered.
"Navy." Kiara added.
"I see." Calli hummed, "Well - I wish it weren't the case, but a war between us and the Shrimps is almost inevitable. After what happened at the Nephilim Club, we've already crossed the point of no return." A small, albeit troubled smile formed on her lips, "But it's not too late to get people - the third parties - out of the war. I don't want to cause any more pain than I absolutely have to."
Kiara and Ame were shocked - or rather, pleasantly surprised. They didn't expect their objectives to align that closely with Calli's. The Deadbeats might be a more willing potential partner for peace than they thought.
However, a pace behind them, Death-sensei pretended to rub his nose. The two detectives could tell that Death-sensei was hiding a frown of disapproval.
Before Calli could say anything else, one of the Deadbeat sluggers walked over to them and whispered something in Death-sensei's ear. The Lieutenant then relayed the message to Calli.
"Uhm, Boss?" Death-sensei started gingerly, "Our 'supplier' is here."
Kiara and Ame turned to each other.
This was probably the Deadbeats' so-called 'arms dealer'.
"Already?" Calli scratched the back of her head sheepishly. She gave Kiara and Ame apologetic bows and excused herself, "I'm sorry about that Hinotori. Pudding. Important work came up just now." She forced herself to smile, "I suggest we pick up where we left off tomorrow - bright and early. Okay? I'll be waiting!"
Kiara and Ame wanted to insist and stay, but Death-sensei cut them off.
"You heard the Boss. Now scram." Death-sensei shooed.
With that, the Deadbeat slugger escorted 'Hinotori' and 'Pudding' out of the Swingwell compound. On their way out of the front gates, the two undercover detectives passed by a peculiar girl with a brown shawl and two owl-feathers sticking out from her light brown hair.
She was the same owl-girl that Kiara saw behind the Dicey Odds bookmaker's office. This time, the owl-girl didn't have a hood, so the Phoenix managed to identify the so-called 'arms dealer' without a shadow of a doubt,
It was Mumei Nanashi, the former mob boss of the Owl Pals of Parliament Street.
…
Queenpins
Hard Sell
…
To Be Continued