In Jeff's kitchen, Maki and Umi were bringing the ingredients from the fridge to Jeff and Eli, who were setting up the barbeque pit. All four of them were excited for the barbeque as they could finally get to taste the delicious, mouth-watering, and tasty grilled food. It was also considered a relaxing break for them.
As Umi was taking the saba fish out, her phone rang. She asked Maki to bring it out for her before she whipped her phone and took a look at who called her. To her surprise, and shock, it was Kotori. She definitely wasn't expecting a call from the ashen-haired woman. Nevertheless, she decided to answer it.
"Hello, Kotori." Umi said.
"Hi, Umi-chan." Kotori replied back. Both of them kept quiet for a while, creating a moment of awkward silence. Both were unsure of what to say to each other. Umi broke it by talking to her.
"I...It's been a long time s...since we've spoken to each other, hasn't it?" She asked.
"Y...yeah." Kotori responded, "How are you, Umi-chan?"
"I...I'm fine. What about you, Kotori? Have you been living well?"
"I guess...so."
The moment of awkward silence came up. Again. This time, it lingered around a bit longer.
"So, why did you call me, Kotori?" Umi asked.
"I just wanted to...tell you something." Kotori answered in a hoarse voice, "I...I've seen you on the news today. You...you...you are a wanted criminal now. The police are gonna be searching for you now."
"Look, Kotori, I'm sorry for putting you in such a position. I didn't mean to…"
"No, it's okay. It's not like you're my girlfriend or anything." Kotori was trying her best to choke back her tears, "I don't really care about your wanted situation. I...I just wanted to inform you on it. Be...be prepared f..for the worst. I wish you all the best. Goodbye." Before Umi could speak, Kotori quickly ended the call. Unable to hold her tears any longer, she leaned against the wall and started crying uncontrollably. Umi slowly lowered the phone down and looked at the screen, feeling dejected.
During the barbeque, Jeff was grilling bacon while Eli placed the grilled food on a plate. She then brought it to a table that was just a few meters away, where a distraught Umi sat at. Maki was at the balcony, calling her girlfriend to let her know about Maki's well-being.
"I'm safe and sound in my friend's home." Maki told Honoka, "I'm alive and I'm doing fine, don't you worry."
"I'm so relieved to hear that." Honoka said, "Mou~, I miss you a lot, Maki-chan! I want to squish your cheeks already! I miss you, Maki-chan. I miss seeing your face every time I wake up in the morning. I miss the warm kisses you would always give me before you go to work. I miss the times when you'd play the piano and sing for me. I feel very lonely now."
"I know how you're feeling, and I understand it." Maki replied, "I promise you, Honoka. Once this whole thing ends, I'll be by your side."
"You said it. I'll hold you to your word." Honoka playfully teased, "You better treat me like a queen after all of these, and also bring me to places with scrumptious food like you used to whenever you come back from your trips so that I can stuff my stomach." The both of them then laughed at that.
"I'll make sure to find the best restaurant with the most delectable, savory food, and you can then eat to your heart's content, alright?" Maki smiled, "Anyways, how's job hunting?"
"I most likely would be working at my parent's sweets shop as a cashier." Honoka responded, "I did look for some jobs though, but I felt none of them really suited me. My friend recommended me to be a bank accountant because it has a pretty high salary."
"Oh no, don't you work at a bank." Maki groaned, "Never. I have a fear of banks ever since I stopped those robberies. I'd rather you go and help your parents out. I want you to be safe too."
"I know, Miss Nishikino. How's the crime syndicate thingy going? Did you manage to catch the boss?"
"Well, we identified him, we saw him, but we didn't manage to catch him." Maki sighed, "He ran away and sent his men to try and kill us."
"I watched the news yesterday." When Honoka said that, Maki's eyes widened in surprise. She wanted to know if she had truly become a wanted criminal, and how Honoka would react to it.
"What did the reporters say?" Maki questioned curiously.
"Well, they said that Jeff Connor, Umi-chan, Eli Ayase, and an unknown woman are wanted by the police now." Honoka replied, "Those three are your friends, right?"
"Yeah." Maki heaved a sigh of relief, "Wait, you know Umi?"
"She's one of my best friends from childhood, and we still keep in contact up till this day.." Honoka replied, "Well, until this whole big thing happened. Anyways, that means the unknown woman...is you."
"Yeah, Honoka, but think about it. They don't know who I am, or what my name is. They don't even know what I look like. So, I'm not wanted. Yet."
"I guess that's good to hear. Oh, I'll be going out soon with Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan. I'll talk to you later. Love you, Maki-chan!"
"I love you too, Honoka. Take care." Maki then ended the call. She walked to the barbeque pit and saw Jeff grilling the saba fishes with Eli helping him place .
"What have you barbequed so far, guys?" Maki asked.
"Some bacon. I'm about to finish grilling the saba fish." Jeff answered,"Afterwards, I still got the chicken wings, pork belly, and yakitori. Eli brought the plate of bacon to the table. Eat it and tell me if I grilled it well." Maki then turned her head towards the table and saw Umi sitting at the table. However, she looked very distraught and downhearted. Eli took a glance at Maki.
"I see you're looking at Umi." Eli said to her, "She has been looking so out of focus and depressed since she came out from the kitchen. She's not eating anything too, including the bacon. It's like she lost a family member or something. Could you try and talk to her, Maki?"
"Me?" Maki pointed at herself, "But I'm not good with words. I'll probably make her feel more awkward and worse. How about you? Maybe you could talk well with her. You know her better than me after all."
"I can't even if I wished I could." Eli retorted, "I may be her high school friend, but I've been overseas for a long period of time. I don't even know what's going on with her life anymore, so I don't know what to say."
"Ayo, women, I don't wish to interrupt you on your deciding-who-does-the-job thingy, but I don't want my bacon turning cold till a point it tastes like rubber." Jeff said as he placed the fish on a plastic plate, "That's my hard work. Can one of you just go and talk to her? You can eat while you're at it."
"I still have to help Jeff grill the rest of the food." Eli told Maki, "Could you bring this plate of saba fish to the table and talk to her, Maki? Pretty please? I'll join you later."
Maki rolled her eyes, but eventually agreed to do so. She brought the plate over to the table and sat at it opposite Umi. Upon hearing the tomato red-haired woman taking a seat, Umi looked away to her right and stayed silent, still not speaking a single word. She couldn't stop thinking about Kotori and the predicament the two of them were in. It was all her fault they ended up like this. Umi could only blame herself.
"What's on your mind, Umi?" Maki asked with concern, "If you have any problems that you're suffering with, you could talk to me, Eli, or Jeff. We're all here to help. You and I might not have known each other for ages or be the closest of friends, but I'm willing to lend a listening ear." Umi kept quiet, her lips sealed. Maki then thought of something that she and Honoka had talked about earlier.
"It's because of the news, right?"
That made Umi look at Maki, "You knew about it?"
Maki nodded her head, "My girlfriend was telling me about it earlier. You, Eli, and Jeff are all wanted by the police now. Is that what's affecting you?"
"No, not really." Umi sighed, "As you know, I was...I used to be in the police force. I had a partner who was also my best friend. We were so close. We'd share woes with each other, comforting each other along the way. We made a promise...to go through thick and thin together no matter what happened. However, I was indignant that the crimes had happened and there was nothing the police could do. A part of me wanted to seek justice for the victims. Without telling her, I joined you and Eli." She stopped for a while to catch her breath before continuing.
"I was glad I could do this with you guys, don't get me wrong. But...because of this, I made her worried and devastated time and time again. What's worse is that we're forced to pit against each other because I'm a wanted criminal. She now...hates me. All of these things happened...because of my selfishness...to make the world a better place...and my foolishness for not putting my trust in her. Am I doing the right thing? Did I make a wrong choice?"
Maki took a piece of bacon and ate it before talking, "You know, I have a girlfriend who constantly worries about me doing all this justice stuff. I kinda understand how you feel. To be honest, what we're doing right now is definitely illegal, I won't lie. I'd look at the bright side, however. We're doing what we want, aren't we? Seeking justice for the victims, saving people from danger, taking down the crime syndicate, protecting our loved ones from harm. To put it bluntly, if the police didn't suck and actually did their work properly, we wouldn't be in this mess."
Maki then grinned at Umi, "But that's how we got to meet each other. Through a shared interest. I think that's a really wonderful thing. I mean, it's always up to you when you think whether it's a good choice or not, but for me, I've never regretted joining this team. Eli told me you would always think carefully before making a decision, so I'm sure you only came to this conclusion after pondering for a long time. Don't doubt yourself. Besides, do you enjoy being with us?"
Umi nodded her head in response.
"It's like what Maki had said, Umi." Eli came over to the table with a plate of chicken wings and pork belly, "It's not your fault any of this happened. It's the police who chose to target us instead. I'm certain that the families of the victims will appreciate our efforts if they know what we're doing."
"Nevertheless, we all have the same aim." Jeff stepped forward with a plate of yakitori, "This will not stop us from achieving our goal. We will work hard to bring down this crime syndicate. But for now, let's enjoy the night. We seldom get relaxing times like this. Don't think too much, alright? Whatever difficulties we're facing, we'll all go through it together,"
"Thank you guys for comforting me and cheering me up." Umi smiled, "I am really happy and thankful to be with you guys." Eli took out four glasses and poured lemonade in each of them.
"Cheers to our future adventures!" Eli screamed.
"Cheers!" The other three screamed along. All of them then clinked their glasses against each other. While they were eating, Eli sat beside Maki.
"You do have a way with words, don't you, Maki?" Eli teased Maki.
"Fancy you saying that when you pushed me to talk to her." Maki frowned at the blonde woman, "I had to come up with some bullshit. You're lucky I watched many inspirational movies during my time as an air stewardess." Eli giggled at that upon hearing that while Maki crossed her arms.
In Zi Yang's ward, Kanan was pacing up and down the room, trying to call and message Kotori, but to no avail. Kotori wasn't picking up any of her calls or replying to any of her messages. Zi Yang looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"Don't bother contacting Kotori." He voiced out as he sat up, "She won't answer you. She's probably sulking at home now, being all dejected and despondent because her best friend and partner is now a criminal."
"And you're not gonna do anything about it?" Kanan asked with an annoyed face, "She's our junior, Zi Yang. We should care for her well-being. At least show some damn concern."
"What can I do?" He talked back, "Give her flowers? Assign her with a new partner? Or should I have a Umi clone delivered to her doorstep? Besides, Umi and her friends were going against the law. It's only logical that I want their wanted statuses to be known through the news. That way, we'll have an easier time catching them because now, the public is able to help us. It makes our lives so much easier. That fourth woman better be glad I wasn't able to track her down."
"Must you be this rigid?" She questioned exasperatedly, "Umi was one of us, after all. Why do we have to go all out on her?"
"Well, that's why I work for the police and not for charity." He bellowed, "Whatever we do, we must follow the law. That's what we pledged as police officers. We aren't supposed to hand out free chances to criminals, Kanan. We don't let our emotions cloud our judgement. Even though Umi's our ex-protege, she still did unlawful things with her friends. I did what I did because I wanted Umi to learn."
"You..." Kanan was about to explode in anger when she stopped herself. She breathed in and out a few times before glaring at Zi Yang.
"Forget it. I'm gonna cool down for now." She said, "Talking to you further will only make my blood…" She was interrupted by a knock on the door, to the tune of 'shave and a haircut, two bits'. They turned to the doorstep and saw their superintendent standing outside.
"Ma'am.' The two inspectors greeted. The superintendent walked towards them and glared at them.
"How's your leg, Zi Yang?" She asked.
"It's recovering, Ma'am." He replied, "I just need a few days of rest, and then I'll be able to continue doing work."
"That's good to hear." She nodded her head in acknowledgement, "Kanan, are you recovering too? I heard you took quite a fall."
"Yea, Ma'am, my arm's completely fine now." Kanan answered, "I wasn't expecting to get thrown down from the second floor to the first, but that's a new experience for me."
"Fantastic! Everyone's recuperating!" The superintendent grinned before turning to Kanan, "Kanan, would you give me some alone time with Zi Yang? I got something...personal to discuss with him."
"Then I shall make a move first, Ma'am." Kanan bowed before walking out of the ward. The superintendent closed the door and sat beside Zi Yang. Her smile turned into a smirk as she crossed her legs and gave him a sidelong glance.
"I hope putting those wanted notices in the news would actually help you catch the criminals." She said, "And you're not just wasting the police resources and abusing your powers as a police inspector to do what you want."
"I will do my best to catch them, Ma'am." He told her, "Once I am…"
"All talk and no action, Inspector Huang." She spoke to him furiously, interrupting him in the process, "That's what you always do. I didn't put you on this case for you to give me some sugar-coated words. I'm sick and tired of receiving no goddamn results from this goddamn case, especially from you!"
She stood up and straightened her blazer before scowling at him, "I'm warning you. If you don't catch any of the trio the next time you encounter them, then be ready to hand in your resignation letter." Zi Yang was immediately shocked to hear that. He couldn't believe what he had just heard from his higher-up.
"Now, make sure to get enough rest so that the wound on your leg will heal." She pulled his blanket up to his chest, "You'll need it later on. Have a good night." With that, she went out of the ward. Zi Yang was still appalled, trying to take in what she had just said to him.
In the carpark, the superintendent entered her car and looked at her reflection in the rear-view mirror.
"That should scare him." She thought as she let out a small smirk.