Begin!
~Normal POV
After picking up barbecue supplies at a local market, they drove to the nearest beach for their day off. The beach was surprisingly lacking in other tourists, despite it being such a gorgeous day. The water was clear and beautiful. Almost immediately after arriving, everyone ran off to claim a spot for their belongings. Until it was only Akira and Zenkichi left by the car.
"Hey, hey, hey! Can't you kids at least… behave…" Zenkichi tried to say, but everyone had left without hearing him. He sighed. "Geez, these loud-ass brats…"
Akira chuckled. "Remember the terms of our deal, inspector? They don't take orders from you."
"Ah- right… forgot for a moment…" Zenkichi turned to head back to the car.
"Where are you going?" Akira asked.
"I'm gonna check on the camper- you go have fun."
"Oh, come on." Akira said, rolling his eyes. "Loosen your tie, inspector. Come relax for a while with us."
"Don't be stupid, Kurusu; I'm on duty. I could get fired."
"Nobody will know." Akira reasoned. "Besides, if you want to blend in to not raise suspicion, you're gonna have to act like a tourist too. At least fake having fun."
"Akira!" They heard Ann call out.
Akira smiled. "Excuse me- I'm needed." He walked off to join his girlfriend on the beach.
"...Maybe just a short break…" Zenkichi muttered before going to join them.
A few hours wouldn't kill him… right?
~...
For the most part, Zenkichi simply watched as everyone else found ways to occupy their time. He had gone to the effort of at least changing into a pair of plain black swim trunks, despite having no interest in getting into the water; and he merely relaxed on a beach towel under an umbrella.
Makoto was tanning while checking her phone occasionally. Morgana was relaxing on a water cooler to beat the heat. Yusuke and Futaba came back from a swim to attempt to build a sand castle together. (Resulting in them bickering over what it should look like.) Akira and Ryuji were sitting nearby watching Ann and Haru swim together. Both boys had content, dopey smiles on their faces. At one point Zenkichi swore he heard Ryuji mention something about "loving Okinawa even more now."
Haru returned to their spot first and sat down next to her boyfriend to dry off. "The water is so refreshing…"
Ryuji leaned over and whispered. "The view was pretty great too…" Making her giggle.
"Akira?" Sophia chimed, getting his attention. "Could you take me into the water? I want to see! Your phone model is waterproof, so please?!"
Akira picked up his phone and went to appease her request. He swam around under the water for as long as he could to let her see what she wanted and take pictures with his camera app. Once he came up for air, she seemed satisfied.
"How'd you like it?"
"The ocean and the fish are so pretty!" Sophia gushed, happily.
Before Akira could respond he felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around him from behind. "Hey, you." Ann said, sweetly.
"Hey, gorgeous," Akira replied. Ann gave him a kiss on the cheek before going back to swimming.
Sophia asked to take more pictures, so Akira was happy to help out. Their friend was so excited to learn and see so many new things. She was like an excitable puppy in that way. She always wanted to see as much as she could all the time. Akira didn't mind helping her out; it was only right as her friend to do so.
~...
Once Sophia had her fill of seeing the ocean, she let Akira go back to their spot on the beach. At this point Ryuji and Haru had gone off somewhere, leaving Zenkichi alone.
"You seem comfortable." Akira commented, sitting down with him. "I told you this wouldn't be that bad."
"I guess…" Zenkichi replied, shrugging. "By the way, I've wanted to ask- what's up with Kitagawa and Sakura?" He gestured towards the two who were almost finished with their sand castle.
"What about them?" Akira asked.
"How do you make them work together when they hate each other?"
Akira snickered in response to that dumb question. When he saw Zenkichi's questioning look, he quickly answered. "Yusuke and Futaba don't hate each other. Not even a little bit. They bicker- yeah- and they don't always get along 100% of the time, but hate? Nope. I guess I can see why you'd think that, only seeing what's on the surface, but the rest of us watched him stand up to her mother's killer for her. I like to think his cutting words are at least part of what got through to him, too. And he's saved her life twice in the Metaverse. You wouldn't do those things for someone you hate. Yusuke is very protective of her. Always has been even when she annoys him. I've never asked about it myself; I think they did talk about that afterwards but it was private. They're like siblings- they don't always get along, but at the end of the day they care about each other. You just got the wrong impression that's all." Without another word, he leaned back in his chair to relax in the shade.
Those words haunted Zenkichi. The wrong impression… He had started this journey thinking he was dealing with a bunch of rowdy teenagers who think they know better than the law. But then he watched them be dependable, honest, and more mature than they seemed when the time called for it. And they were so close and caring to each other. They really did feel like a family, even if they didn't look much like one. They made Akane so happy too… He couldn't just overlook that act of kindness. If he arrested them now… Akane would truly never speak to him again… He shook his head and shrugged off this concern. It was best not to think about it. All they had to do was catch the real culprit behind all this and the kids could go free like he promised. He doubted they'd be able to come see Akane again, but they might try at least. He lay back on his towel and closed his eyes to try to get some sleep.
~...
As Zenkichi should have anticipated, falling asleep was not a good idea. He eventually woke up to find the kids had buried him in the sand as a prank. Of course he wasn't happy about this, even though Akira swore it wasn't his idea and apologized. (Though the apology didn't sound too genuine. The inspector had to drop it for now.)
It was sunset now. After having dinner together on the beach, everyone changed back into their regular clothes before splitting off to do their own things. Zenkichi found Akira sitting on a bench reading one of his books. (How many did he bring with him anyway? He always seemed to have one.) A thought crossed the inspector's mind as he approached. Maybe he should tell Akira about the ultimatum his boss gave. It was a fair warning after all. And it wasn't like he had to act on it right away. He didn't know yet if he'd truly gained their trust in this deal, but they had to know that if something happened it wasn't his fault.
"Hey…" He said, getting the boy's attention.
"Hey." Akira replied, simply.
"Mind if I sit?"
"Nah, go ahead."
Zenkichi sat down beside him and tried to figure out the right approach to say this. He'd have to be very careful with his wording otherwise the kid was gonna flip his lid. Maybe he could ease into it? Start with something else? Like… He looked over at the kid once more and glanced down at his novel. He hadn't actually paid attention to the titles of the books he'd seen him reading previously but this one caught his interest in an unexpected way.
Zenkichi crossed his arms in a gesture of genuine surprise. "Kurusu? Are you… reading a detective novel?" (He recognized that it was a mystery but it wasn't one he was familiar with.)
At first, Akira didn't reply, then the realization hit him on what that must have looked like. He turned pink and hastily marked his page, trying to stammer out a response.
"Whoa, no, no, it's ok!" Zenkichi said. "Sorry, I didn't want to embarrass you- I was just a little surprised."
"Ahem, it's just a personal interest of mine…" Akira said, sheepishly. "I know it looks weird; a phantom thief who likes detective stories… You can make fun if you want- you wouldn't be the first."
"No, I'm not gonna judge you. You like what you like. I think it's kinda nice that you didn't let your personal experiences take away something you hold close to your heart like that."
"Thanks…" Akira replied, smiling a little. "Um, anyway- what'd you come over here for?"
Zenkichi opened his mouth to speak but couldn't find the words. No. He can't say it. He was finally getting along reasonably with the kids. They were warmer, and treated him much better since leaving Sapporo. He was about to try to make up an excuse- maybe he could ask him what his book was about instead- but that idea was quickly dashed by something he saw in the distance behind them.
A group of townspeople were standing nearby. They were whispering to each other excitedly and pointed their way a few times while talking. They didn't look friendly…
"What's wrong?" Akira asked softly, noticing the look of alarm on Zenkichi's face.
"Gather everyone… I think something's up…" Zenkichi warned, quietly.
Akira quickly stood and ran off to adhere to his request; Zenkichi hurriedly followed him.
~...
The gang and Zenkichi found themselves hidden in the bushes near the beach. It was dark out now, and they were watching the camper firmly; being careful not to make a sound. The group of townspeople had broken into the camper and were searching it frantically. Many of them were even holding torches and shouting in a crazed manner.
"It's empty!"
"They can't be far! Find them!"
"We have to punish them for defiling hallowed ground! We'll make an offering out of them!"
The gang may have spoken far too soon about this island being normal.
~End of Chapter
