Disclaimer: I do not own Oregairu or any brands mentioned.
Previously on Match Point: Yukino's mission to find and kill her Gabriel Darabont finally draws to a close, though she is left unsatisfied with the outcome. Shizuka finally confronts 8man, but similarly does not find what she was looking for.
Saturday - Abandoned Basement – 19:21
PUH
A small white ball bounces against a ping pong paddle, before ricocheting off the surface of a table, then against another paddle.
The table in question is wide and has a small net going down the middle horizontally. This is a ping pong table, where two players play a miniature game of tennis with paddles and a small plastic ball.
On one end of the table is Hikigaya, and on the other end is Rorona. As the ball hits the table, it bounces over the assassin's head and onto the floor.
"I win!" Rorona declares cheerfully, as he jumps up and down.
"Win? For the tenth time: We're playing by official rules, not this weird trailer park version you keep trying to push." Hachiman responds, turning around to pick up the ball.
"I'm telling you, this is the best way to play. When I was kid, there were no 'official rules'. You either hit the ball or you didn't."
Hikigaya smiles as he kneels down, before grabbing the ball and setting his paddle on a crate.
"Awe, come on? Are you really giving up that easily?" Rorona taunts, as he spins his own paddle in his hand.
"Yukinoshita was nice enough to throw some money our way, but that doesn't mean we can just waste all our time. It's been over two weeks since we did anything of value. We need to get back to work."
Rorona sighs, before nodding and placing his paddle down as well. He then proceeds to walk around the table and up to the white board, pointing to one of the photos taped on.
"About a month ago we dealt with Hiroshi Maeue. Right now, he's in police custody."
The assassin sits down in a chair and places his feet on their new mini-fridge, as he looks over at his partner.
"Who's up next?"
"Miyuki Ishikawa. She runs a strip club here in Chiba."
"Will you remind me what her connection to Komanda is?" Hachiman requests as he bends slightly, before opening the small mini-fridge door.
"Komanda gets money from all over the place; extortion, drug trade, arms dealing, and a lot of other stuff. Bank accounts are key here.
Let's say Komanda strikes a deal to trade a small arms shipment for about ten thousand United States Dollars. If he were to take that money and just drop it into an account, it'd get flagged pretty quick, considering there isn't clear origin where it came from. Obviously, he can't just explain that he got the money came from selling Ak-47s to gangs.
So, you have all this money, but there isn't a place to put it. What do you do?"
Hikigaya pulls out a MAX Coffee from the fridge and cracks it open, then answers.
"You launder it."
Rorona clicks his fingers and points at his partner.
"That's right, and he launders it through Miyuki Ishikawa's strip club. It's actually pretty genius. Guys are always into these places to throw cash at woman; so police would never be suspicious of a stripper depositing irregular sums of money into her accounts."
"Okay so you've done a bit of research, but how does that help us stop Miyuki?"
"Well, that's you're specialty…"
Hachiman nods and takes a sip of his coffee.
"Let's go check out this strip club."
Chiba Streets – 12:01
On a nice clear day, in a nice neighbourhood, the car of a detective pulls up outside an apartment block. Inside the car is none other than Reo Touma, pursuing a lead on the elusive assassin he's been chasing.
As the car stops, the detective opens up his door and gets out. Without hesitation he grabs a small folder from the passenger seat, then shuts the car door and locks up.
He proceeds to head across the street towards the apartment block, looking over his shoulder the whole time.
Upon reaching the building's entrance, Touma checks for an intercom or a buzzer. In front of him is a glass door, with metal bars ahead of it. Next to the door is a small box with several rectangular buttons, all with a label for the different apartment numbers pasted on.
Reo reaches out and presses the button for "Apartment 66". As he does so, a buzzing sound rings out of a small speaker on the box.
A few moments later, a voice comes through the same speaker.
"Hello?"
It's clearly a lady's voice, though it is quite distorted.
"Hello Ma'am, I'm Detective Reo Touma with the Japanese Police. May I come in and speak to you?"
There is a brief silence as the woman on the other end of the line considers what to do.
"Uhh… Sure okay, I'll buzz you in…"
Just then the metal gate vibrates slightly, before it opens automatically, giving Touma a clear entrance into the building.
He quickly heads inside and begins climbing the spiral wooden steps, making his way to the sixty-sixth apartment. It doesn't take long, and soon Reo is standing outside of the apartment door, getting ready to speak to the resident.
KNOCK
KNOCK
After another short wait, the door to the apartment opens; revealing a lady in her late twenties on the other side. She is Caucasian with short black hair and wearing a dark robe with bunny slippers.
This woman is Rorona's ex-wife.
Chix & Dix – 20:01
Hikigaya and Rorona stand outside the strip club, staring up at the large neon sign. This sign is essentially the outline of a woman, with a frame of the words "Chix & Dix" layered over.
The lady's outline flashes with a bright pink glow, while the letters alternate between red and blue.
"So… Do we just go in?" Hachiman asks, raising an eyebrow.
Rorona chuckles.
"Have you never been to a strip club before?"
"Does it look like this is one of my interests?"
The older of the two shakes his head and begins walking towards the entrance. The front door is guarded by two large, bald bouncers. They both have their arms folded and a mean look on their face.
As Rorona walks up in front of them, they begin sizing him up. This is all they do though, before stepping aside and allowing him through the door.
However, when Hikigaya tries to follow Rorona in, one of the bouncers put his hand out, stopping the assassin in his tracks.
"Sorry kid, no under eighteens. Nice try though."
Hachiman looks at the man and smiles, before turning around in defeat. Given his experience, he could probably take the man on one-to-one, but getting into a fight here would be pretty pointless.
As he walks away, he takes out his phone and types out a text to his partner. Inside the club Rorona hears his phone beep twice, however he is quite distracted, as he looks upon the happenings inside.
The interior is dark as expected; mainly illuminated by two large lights. The right and left side of the club each have a wide stage, with the lights hanging above. The light to the left is blue, while the one to the right is red. On the stages are strippers, dancing around poles.
What makes this particular establishment interesting though, is how all the strippers to the left are woman and all the ones on the right are men.
Rorona's eyes widen slightly, as he looks at the crowd of woman - and few men - by the male strippers. His gaze then shifts the female section, with the large majority being males, with some woman here and there.
Not all the strippers are on stage though, some are walking around holding trays with drinks, and offering private dances.
After standing in place by the entrance and gawking at the models for a few moments, Rorona remembers he's here on business. When he turns around to speak to his partner, he realizes Hikigaya is no where to be found.
He quickly takes out his phone and finds a new text message reading: "Bouncer won't let me through. Find an office or something. I'll get in from the back."
Rorona sighs and puts his phone away, before scanning the area for any doors. He notices one by the far-right corner behind the stage, and quickly begins heading through the crowd. Just like the entrance, this door has a bouncer in front of it. Unlike the entrance though, this guy probably wouldn't just let Rorona through, so as he makes his way there he considers what to do.
One of the ladies holding a tray happens to walk past Rorona, and he quickly grabs a drink. With it in hand, he strolls towards the bouncer; pretending as if he's not looking where he's going.
Not a moment later, Rorona bumps into the man, spilling his drink all of the guy's shirt.
"Oh my god!" Rorona reacts, before beginning to wipe the man's shirt with his hands. "I'm so sorry man, I just wasn't paying attention, you know how it is…"
The bouncer groans in annoyance.
"Yeah, yeah… It's fine just…"
Rorona continues patting him, trying to dry up the liquid.
"Just stop touching me okay." The man says with an annoyed tone, before turning around and walking towards the bathrooms, looking down at his now wet shirt.
As the guy walks away, Rorona grins and clutches a set of keys he pick-pocketed off of him.
Apartment Block – 12:13
"Please come in…" Pamela says, seeing Detective Touma flashing his badge in front of her.
Reo obliges and enters the apartment, looking around.
For the most part it is tidy, with ornaments and family photos placed about. The floor is carpeted, and toys can be seen shuffled into one of the corners under a table.
"Uhh… Would you like some tea?" She asks, shutting the door.
"No thank you." Touma responds, recalling what happened the last time a lady offered him a drink. "May I take a seat?"
Pamela nods, and he promptly sits down on the couch.
"So Detective, would you tell me why you're here?"
"I'd like to discuss your ex-husband; Rorona Kobayashi."
She sighs and sits down in one of the seats across from the couch.
"What did he do? He doesn't need bail money or something, does he?"
Reo leans back and takes out his notepad.
"Why is that your first thought?"
"He's always had a tendency to get in trouble."
"Is that why you two are divorced?"
"God no…" Pamela responds chuckling. "Rorona has some personal issues he needs to work through."
"What are those personal issues?"
"Does it matter?"
Touma looks her in the eye and smiles warmly.
"I know your husband used to be a part of the United States Marines; I imagine that could cause stress at home."
"No… Rorona is actually pretty well adjusted all things considered, but he's kind of childish you know? He can barely keep a job. One day I just said 'enough' and filed for divorce."
"I see, and you have a son?"
"I do; he's at a friend's house right now."
Reo nods and writes something down.
"So, are you going to tell me why you want to know about my ex?"
"His DNA came up at a crime scene, but this kind of stuff happens all the time – it could very well just be a coincidence."
Pam raises an eyebrow and frowns.
"If his DNA was found at a crime scene, shouldn't it be him you're speaking to?"
"Trust me ma'am, we're working all angles."
She nods slowly, before speaking.
"Well, if he did commit a crime, I wouldn't be that surprised."
"Why is that?"
"He had this friend… Kyle Smith; the guy's a control freak. The two of them met a long time ago in the marines and bonded or something… But Kyle's not a great guy, you know? He ended up marrying my best friend Akane. When Rorona and I were together, we had our suspicions he was abusing her – physically."
"Why didn't you report it?"
"We were young and stupid… We'd all just came to live in Japan and didn't want to start making waves. Like I said - this was a long time ago, and Rorona and I ended up losing contact with Akane and Kyle. If Rorona is in any serious trouble, I can only imagine it's related to that guy…"
Touma looks to the side and sees several dresses folded over on one of the chairs. Pamela notices his staring, and preemptively addresses his thoughts.
"I'm going to a party tomorrow night with some of my friends. It's for her bachelorette…"
He nods and puts his notepad away, before standing up and smiling.
"Thank you for your time Pamela. You've been a great help."
The detective turns around and begins walking towards the front door. She stays seated, watching him leave.
Chix & Dix – 20:36
Rorona looks around, as he walks through the doorway. Straight ahead are stairs leading to a second floor, with another door to the side. Next to the stairs is a hallway going further down. It's pretty dark, but he decides to avoid turning on the light switch, in case someone else is lurking around here.
He begins climbing up the stairs, hoping it takes him somewhere helpful. As he ascends each step, the sound of wood creaking under his feet gets louder. Rorona continues though, and eventually reaches the top, where he finds a door. He reaches out and turns the knob, before pushing the door forward and entering inside.
The room has a desk at the end, with a bunch of photos hung up on the walls. There is a light on the ceiling, illuminating it well.
Interestingly, in one corner of the room are several stacks of cash, along with other valuable items like gold, silver, etc. Rorona raises an eyebrow, and looks away from the money, to his right.
To his great surprise, he sees an older woman leaning against the wall with a cigarette in her mouth – staring at him. She is wearing a wide, lengthy black dress that goes past here ankles. The woman also has broken looking teeth, and a slim, wrinkly face.
"Uhhh…" He nervously tries to a from a sentence, failing miserably.
"What are you doing up here?" The lady asks, taking the cigarette out of her mouth.
"Just… Umm… Looking around, you know?"
"You're just looking around? Really?"
Before he can say anything, she shakes her head disapprovingly, then walks up in front of him. The lady puts her face right up to his and blows some cigarette smoke out of her mouth.
"You don't gotta lie to me; I know why you're here."
Rorona widens his eyes slightly and tries to back away. Unfortunately, he hits the wall behind him and the older lady gets even closer.
"You do?"
"Of course, you want a job, don't you?"
He chuckles nervously.
"Yeah… That's exactly why I'm here! To get a job… As a bounc-"
"As a stripper…" She interrupts, finishing his sentence.
"Yeah that's what I meant…" Rorona explains, almost inaudibly.
The reason why he is so nervous, is because this lady is Miyuki Ishikawa, Komanda's lieutenant.
"Why don't you do a little a dance for me?"
Miyuki backs away from him and sits down on her desk, before folding her legs and crossing her arms.
"D-Dance?"
"That's right; show me what you got."
Rorona begins swaying from side-to-side, trying to dance. This doesn't work too well, and Komanda's lieutenant becomes visibly annoyed.
"If you want to be a real good gal's Boy Toy, you better be ready to play… I got twenty twinks on speed dial who'd kill for a visit in my office."
As tension rises in the room, Rorona lets out a sigh and apprehensively begins unbuttoning his shirt. Miyuki licks her lips, nodding while he does so.
"Now we're getting somewhere…"
Rorona slowly pulls his arms out of each sleeve, then throws the shirt off his shoulder, before swaying his hips and doing his best to flex his muscles.
Suffice to say, he does not like where this is heading.
Author's Notes: If anyone doesn't remember - Kyle Smith was hired with Rorona by Haruno to capture 8man. 8man quickly killed Kyle and made Rorona work for him. Chapter 41 will be up next week!
