K: Tales of Midnight

Chapter Two: Game

A single knock resounded on the door of Captain Munakata's Office. It was Fushimi, flushed and irritable as only ever he had cause to be. While it wasn't any secret that the simple fact of life was all it took to piss him off on any given day, this day over others struck him sorely in the head and in a slew of achy spasms in his joints.

Not quite two hours prior, having unilaterally crossed so jarring and perplexing an adversary as the black-aura-wielding Rei Kiyoka, Fushimi's ordinarily sharp demeanor was pricked all the more profoundly with an agitated tick that kept his fingers clutching into fists, his boots a tapping rhythm on the floor, the whole of him a restless, angry figure waltzing through the halls of Scepter 4.

A low-voiced 'Enter' followed after the knock, and a rough twist of the knob brought Fushimi trudging into the room, fidgeting his fingers in a grip around his hilt, his saber sheathed and buckled at his side.

Reisi Munakata sat seize-style atop the tatami-matted flooring opposite the door, a bowl of miso cupped between his palms. "Won't you join me?" He offered.

Fushimi shut the door, yet abstained from the tediousness of removing his boots (as was customary) in favor of standing.

The Captain peered at him, a glimmer issued outward from beneath his metal rims as he allowed his fond subordinate the usual indulgence — or rather natural unconscious habit — of behaving plainly (though some would say 'rudely') as no other member of the Blue Clan would have rightfully nor daringly have done when in the presence of their king.

"I believe you have something for me," came the Captain's gentle prompt.

Fushimi sauntered forward, drawing from his pocket, the useless drive, and passed it to the Captain. "Empty," he said. "Minus some random cat videos."

Munakata hummed, fingering the drive. "I've always been rather fond of those," he said, slipping it away inside his inner left-breast pocket. "Pointless, really, though I find them quite amusing and, at times, a helpful diversion when my mind is too preoccupied to contemplate the many matters I'm so frequently encumbered by."

Fushimi perceived this as a bit unorthodox, though not uncommonly so, as the Captain periodically posed an interest in unlikely, often childish, hobbies seemingly opposed to his formality, his subtle demeanor, his status as a leader and a king; and for this, knowing Munakata as he did (and sometimes didn't), Fushimi carried on in silent disregard.

The Blue King flashed a knowing eye to him. "Judging by your air, as well as the contents of this drive, it was not merely your failure to apprehend the Kawaguchi Algorithm that I sense so keenly the displeasure in your features, Mr. Fushimi." He said this nearly with a smile. Often he found Fushimi's seriousness amusing. "'A clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease,'" he quoted. He drew the bowl of miso to his lips. "From your report, it would appear you have been bested in quite the infuriating manner. I now wonder how it felt, having lost as swiftly as you've beaten every other in your path until today." His tone, well aided by the grin he failed (or purposefully neglected) to hide behind his bowl, suggested he could hardly contain himself. Clearly, he sought to savor yet another instance in which to tease his well-appointed favorite of the Blues.

Fushimi, on the other hand, was far from satisfied, doing his utmost to ignore the Captain's overt optimism while simultaneously clenching at the words, 'failed,' 'bested,' and 'lost.'

This sort of pent up fury was successfully perceived by Munakata, though not in any way that might have hindered his amusement, nor given him cause to exercise restraint. Rather, with a furthered sense of poise, he carried on the same.

"Did our — what was it you coined? 'Tin Nobodies,' I believe was the phrase? — have anything useful to confess?"

Fushimi cocked his features to the side: the answer was too obvious. "Didn't you read the report? Their info was as useless as they were."

"And yet you did manage to learn something, did you not?" The Captain went on. "Or else you would not have left so much of your report to the imagination — a method quite unlike you, Mr. Fushimi. No doubt it is the reason why your face is unforgivable at present." His tone, once more, prevailed a sense of warmth, a glowing sort, as though he hid a laugh behind his eyes.

Broodingly, Fushimi turned away. It wasn't shame he felt: shame was for idiots. He was simply angry, and that anger brought him staring past his ever tightening, sweating fist, below the gravel-ragged knees of his trousers and the scuffed-up leather of his boots, and finally to the floor: clean and perfect in comparison to him, wondering how to form an explanation of events; but then, he saw the answer was equally obvious. The Captain's not the type to see reason alone, he concluded, feeling a bit relieved. Thus, he answered plainly per his natural inclinations and the confidence he bore in the abnormal intellect belonging to his king. "It was never about the algorithm," he said at last. Then, in more of a mumble, he specified, "It was about me."

The Captain took a sip and paused. Interest piqued, he turned inquisitive eyes on Fushimi, his expression vaguely littered with a feature that Fushimi couldn't place: something bearing more than just the subtleness of mirth. "Go on," he said.

"You're aware, Captain," Fushimi began, "the Kawaguchi Algorithm is a highly advanced piece of technology requiring a very specific level of power in order to operate: massive quantities of energy that aren't undetectable when accessing the city's power distribution grid."

"Indeed, I am aware."

"It wasn't all that hard, really. All I had to do was narrow the location based on the highest power occupancy levels throughout the city. From there, I was able to isolate the source to the Susanoo Trade Building. That's where things got…complicated."

"Your 'ghost,' I take it?"

This was not the first time Munakata had thus referred to the mysterious hacker who had successfully infiltrated Kawaguchi Industries, so easily and so frequently had she evaded Scepter 4 ever since, slipping through the cracks as would a phantom in the night.

A pitted silence came by way of an answer from Fushimi and the Captain ascertained, giving off a thoughtful blink. "So, you met at last," he uttered peacefully. "How marvelous."

"You can say that," Fushimi grated. "You weren't there. Does the name Rei Kiyoka mean anything to you?"

Munakata stared into his soup. "Should it?"

Once again, Fushimi neglected to answer. He found it ridiculous to satisfy yet another obvious question with another equally obvious answer. "Among her myriad of issues," he said instead, "the most troublesome was her aura. It didn't belong to any one of the seven kings of Japan. It was black."

"It is possible she was merely a strain," the Captain posed, "even a beta strain, if she was powerful enough."

Fushimi shook his head. "That's not what made it irritating: it was the fact that it wasn't just a supernatural aura. It was intermixed with other elements, ones that, paired together, resembled an electrical current, meaning it wasn't fully supernatural. It exhibited signs of artificial tampering, the result of which was…highly disturbing."

"How strong?" Munakata asked.

Fushimi met his gaze. "Strong enough match for a king."

"Which king?" The Captain said, amused. "And yet, she left you alive. Rather thrilling, wouldn't you say?"

Fushimi clicked his tongue. "Yeah, sure. It's amazing to know that my life hanging in the balance 'thrills' you. But as it turns out, specifically not killing me seemed to be more important to her — or that's how it seemed anyway. Everything about her was sporadic and contradictory at best — when she wasn't lying outright."

"A diversion?"

"An annoyance. But for all that, I couldn't shake the feeling that she was just a bomb waiting to explode — like she was already unraveling, and it's only a matter of time before she totally loses it. One minute she was mad, and the next," he shrugged, "way too calm for comfort. It's like her energy was spent, and yet she had the power to wipe out half the town."

Recalling this, he frowned. In a manner unbeknownst to him, he dipped into a reverie, conscious of a string of observations that he didn't think to make of her before. Not once had he realized, even when confronting her amidst the thunder, piercing lightning, clash of steel on steel; even when he witnessed her composed, those instances she stood as would a statue, taunting him with lies and clouded actualities: the look she bore, something in her eyes, appeared to carry more than what was outwardly implied. Past the many layers he perceived, there seemed to be another part of her. Deep, obscure, yet above all, persistent, nearly on the verge of teetering over the edge that served as a dividing line between two intrinsic points, it was the one thing Fushimi overlooked. Only in that moment, standing in the presence of the Captain, had he noticed, thinking perhaps…

No, he stopped himself abruptly. Not a chance. That's just what she does. It was only a mask: one big lie to throw me off. He shook the aggravation away and, looking up, he found the Captain staring pointedly. Even in his place some five odd feet away, Fushimi felt invaded upon. Involuntarily, he retreated back a pace.

"Either way," he said, pretending the previous moment never occurred, "the only useful thing I was able to get out of her was the fact that she isn't working alone. There's someone else — someone who's orders she's compelled to obey; and if a person with her kind of power answers to someone else, we may be dealing with a lot more than we thought; worse, now that they've got the algorithm."

Munakata hummed. "You mentioned that today's events were not centered around the algorithm — that it was about you."

"Yeah, so?"

"What exactly did she say to make you think this?"

Fushimi made an obvious face. "That," he answered bluntly.

"And you believed her?"

"I'm not stupid."

The Captain grinned again.

"There's more," Fushimi explained, mildly pricked. "It happened later on when I went back and searched the building. There was nothing there — no evidence of any database from which a download could have been made, and no way of housing a program even a fraction of the size of the Kawaguchi Algorithm."

"Forgive me, but wouldn't that have been a good thing to check before raiding the building?" The Captain asked.

"Of course I checked. But the data was faked. It was just meant to make people think a download from Susanoo's system was possible, when in reality, there was no way they could have housed a program even a fraction of the size of the Kawaguchi Algorithm. That means the algorithm couldn't have been downloaded from that location in the first place."

"It was never there," the Captain surmised.

"But she was, and she knew that if she altered the distribution grid to make it look like a power surge, I'd ultimately go there, thinking I'd find the algorithm. It was this woman," Fushimi went on, "this Rei Kiyoka."

"I didn't believe her at first; I still don't believe everything she told me; but," and there, he hesitated, "I think the one thing that she said to me that was true (at least to some extent, I don't know) is that she wanted to make contact with me, for whatever reason. I thought about it and, why else would she have planted false intel on the algorithm's location in order to lure me there: her competition, and then not even kill me once she'd gotten me there? She could've done it at any time, but she didn't; she kept saying she needed me to come, that she couldn't kill me, that 'He'd' be mad at her if she did, whoever this 'He' is; I figured that's her boss."

The Captain listened quietly, characteristically unmoved, his silence somehow managing to infuriate Fushimi with the thought of all the unspoken words he harbored but had chosen to conceal.

"Ever since the algorithm leaked from Kawaguchi Industries three weeks ago — even before then," he persisted, "this entire investigation was set up from the start. Rei Kiyoka (or whomever she works for) knew that once the algorithm went missing, Scepter 4 would send the only person capable of this level of computer programming to track it down."

The Captain's nonchalance rose up again. "It would appear my hidden weapons user isn't quite so hidden anymore."

"Like it was ever all that hidden to begin with," Fushimi countered.

"Yes, quite the ruckus you displayed," the Captain smiled. "In fact, I shouldn't be surprised you've once more dipped your feet in far too deep a pool than you inherently should. Your power of estimating your adversary has always been rather skewed, Mr. Fushimi: you who piqued the interest of one king, the wrath of another, and the supreme, unstable intellect of a third. Yet, much, of course, can be said for the foolishness of those who would so naively refer to you as an unworthy adversary. For, by commanding the attention of three opposing powers far superior to yours, you've only proven your own capabilities in standing firmly among them. It is no wonder, then, that you have been selected personally by this ghost, Rei Kiyoka, as an object of such…affectionate hostility."

Fushimi scowled at the Captain's fluttery air, presented as though with the expectation that Fushimi thank the man for some hidden compliment he should be honored to receive. "You have a strange way of looking at things, Captain," he said.

"Would you have it any other way?" Returned the king, though he did not bother to pause, thus sparing Fushimi the awkwardness of having to answer. "What you are implying, then, is that this woman orchestrated the theft of the algorithm from Kawaguchi Industries as part of an elaborate scheme to draw you out into the open."

"I think she planned to take the algorithm regardless," Fushimi remarked, "but it was only secondary. What she really wanted had more to do with meeting me today; however it's still unclear as to what her overall objective is. The way I see it: she stole the algorithm, making it look like a terrorist attack, then scattered fake clues for me to follow with the hope of baiting me. That way, she could plan exactly when I'd be at the trade building. She knew that I'd be looking for the algorithm and that I wouldn't find it; and there, she planned to fight me, making sure I knew she had the power to kill me but had chosen not to; and on top of that, knowing I would come back here and have this conversation with you, she chose to give me this." He produced the luculent vial he mistook for a bomb, holding it aloft before Captain.

At long last, breaking from his overall passivity, Munakata perked his features upward in a prominent look if intrigue.

Responding to the silent query written on his Captain's face, Fushimi handed forth the vial. "I ran a test but the results came up as 'classified,' though not by the State, by Legal Affairs or the Ministry of Health, but by Scepter 4. In any other situation, I would have hacked my way in, but since it's coming from our own division…" he shrugged and nodded to it. "What is it?"

The Captain pocketed the vial, returning to his miso. "This is a dangerous opponent," he said. "If she did indeed lure you as you say, all in order to make contact with you, then you would be correct in assuming she wished to tell you something — to convey a message to Scepter 4."

Fushimi grew suspicious. "What kind of message?"

The Captain didn't answer. Perhaps he didn't know, though something told Fushimi otherwise.

A silence drifted through the room. "In any case," Fushimi said at length, "the algorithm wasn't a playing piece in any of this — not today, not even from the start, which means that everything I've done leading up to now has been for nothing."

"That would be a rather hasty assumption," returned the Captain. "It is true your objective was deceptively altered, though certainly not hers. Hers was well enough, indeed, and potentially ongoing. Therefore, I believe there may be something to be gained from what was seemingly lost."

Fushimi stood confused. "What do you mean?"

"'Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows,'" he quoted again. "'The soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.' But when the foe is unknowable, as this one is, you must first learn the nature of it. For now, it is you who are known and that is all. This knowledge must be rectified. The only course left open to you as you proceed is to conceal your disposition whilst uncovering hers. Only then may you be safe from the prying of even the subtlest spy."

"You sure love the sound of your voice, Captain," Fushimi chided him.

"Not my voice," Munakata answered, "the great voice of war. Right now, Mr. Fushimi, your enemy is unknown while you are not. However, her tactics are known, at least to some degree."

"They're not known at all."

"Precisely. They are known to be unknown, and so should yours be. Modify the unknowable tactics you engage to meet those of your opponent. Thus may you discover what is unknowable in your enemy. Meanwhile, I believe not all you learned today has been, as you say, 'for nothing,' that it should hinder you from moving forward. You said this woman seemed intent on keeping you alive, is that not so?"

Fushimi frowned, peering down at the memory of being used, of being bested. In reality, he was all the words the Captain had described. He had failed, was beaten, had lost. Once again, no thought of shame encompassed him but the notion of perplexity. He wondered why she chose him — him and no one else. What purpose could he serve? What purpose had he already served? What was it she was planning and who the hell even was she?

"I don't understand," he told the Captain honestly. "It doesn't matter if she wanted me alive or not. Why'd she want me there at all? If her goal was to send a message to Scepter 4 — in other words, to you — why not come to you herself? It's not like you're hard to find. It would have been a whole lot easier than what she chose to do instead. So I have to ask: Why me?"

Munakata beamed at him. "Well it isn't any secret Mr. Fushimi: you're no discomfort to the eye."

Fushimi tensed uncomfortably, thinking back on how Rei Kiyoka seemed to look at him as though he were a prize. Pausing, he recalled the name she used: pet name, more like, he thought, clenching at the memory. "Sashimi," he mumbled out abstractedly.

The Captain peered at him. "Pardon?"

"That's what she called me, Sir."

Then, to Fushimi's grand bewilderment, the Captain issued out his deep rumble of a laugh. "How fitting!" He declared. "It appears she knows you very well."

Fushimi's brow contracted. "What…?"

"Just think," the Captain offered, his features radiating glee. "A raw bit of meat, uncommonly fresh, and," scanning Fushimi up and down, he added, "lanky in appearance: quite the likeness, wouldn't you agree?"

Fushimi ground his teeth. Damn you, Rei Kiyoka. You know so much about me, you're creating nicknames even my own Captain can approve of.

"On taking such great pains to know you as her adversary, Mr. Fushimi, and to reel you in accordingly, we may surmise that she had an adequate reason for choosing you specifically."

"Or no reason," Fushimi proposed. "It could just be a ruse: a twisted, pointless maneuver to throw us off the scent so we don't find out what she's really up to, or what her boss is up to. She said so herself that this was just a game, and maybe that was all I was good for: I was just a pawn that she could use to further her own ends."

"She may well have gained an advantage over you today, but in the game of chess, Mr. Fushimi, you are hardly a pawn. In truth, I associate you more with the rook, particularly in this instance. The rook, you see, is unable to initiate a move until the game has begun. Even should it strategize an outlet from the start, still, it can do nothing until either the pawn — or, in this case, the knight — paves its way. I suspect you have already chosen which way you are to proceed now that the knight has cleared an avenue on which to do so. Therefore, why don't we dispense with the tediousness of presuming you're a pawn and do inform me of the details regarding your next performance. Surely, you did not allow yourself to be beaten so spectacularly without a reason."

Fushimi wasn't certain whether he should feel flattered or annoyed, though choosing what was most familiar, he settled on the latter.

"Okay, fine. I wasn't going to say anything until I got a solid lead, but…when I realized what I was up against, I put a tracker on her."

"That seems rather concrete to me," said the Captain.

"I thought so too at first; but then something happened: her signal disappeared. I thought it was because she'd found the tracker and destroyed it, but a little while later it returned. I then thought it was a glitch, but so far, it's been cutting in and out pretty regularly, never in direct sequence though, which tells me two things: that where she's going isn't anywhere that has a signal, and that she hasn't actually figured out I put the tracker on her. If she had, she would have smashed it or simply left it somewhere; but the signal hasn't been disengaged, even when it disappears. It's just blank: nothing; and when it does come back online, it's active."

"Where is she now?"

"The signal's currently dark."

"And her last location?"

"Tachibana Tower here in Shizume. I did a sweep but there's nothing there. Before that, another dead zone, and before that, she was in a cafe near Yotsuya Station."

The Captain hummed, considering a moment. "Tachibana Tower is located directly over Tachibana Station. It cannot be a coincidence that she appears in such close proximity to Tokyo's central railway stations."

"That was my thinking too," Fushimi agreed. "It was only speculation at first, but now I'm certain she's been going underground — and for a lot longer than it generally takes to ride on public transport. Even on the trains and in the underground stations, the signal's strong enough, I could have picked it up. The fact that I'm not getting anything at all means she been going even further than the standard public areas; but supposing that's the case, her base of operations could be anywhere, and I'm not just going to go wandering aimlessly through the maze of Tokyo's underworld to find it."

"'The opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself,' or in this instance, 'herself,'" Munakata supplied. "Limiting the circle of possibilities with which to find her can only be achieved with the aid of Miss Rei Kiyoka."

Fushimi nodded. "If everything goes as planned, the next time she appears, she'll give us a third location we can use to narrow down the search."

"And if she's since discovered the tracker and destroyed it?"

Fushimi made no answer, calling up another laughing smile from the Captain.

"It's quite the risk you're taking, Mr. Fushimi."

"Do you object?"

"Not at all. Assuming we are correct in that she arranged your earlier interaction, I believe it's equally safe to say she may arrange another, regardless of whether or not you succeed in your search. Though, please inform me if and when she returns online."

Fushimi bowed. "Sir." He rose and turned to leave.

"In addition, Mr. Fushimi."

Fushimi paused, peering back around. "'One who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances.' Should you come into contact with her again, exercise caution. Simulated weakness as that which she is no doubt capable of only postulates a hidden strength, which will surely reveal itself if or when her opponent lets down his guard."

Fushimi slit his eyes. "You think she's been keeping the tracker active on purpose?"

"As evidence from your report, Rei Kiyoka is highly skilled when it comes to employing timidity as a tactic. Merely observe how you went positively sprawling." Again with his swift tone of amusement.

"She won't get another chance," Fushimi assured him a bit more stiffly so as to counteract the Captain's enthusiasm. "I underestimated her once. I don't plan on doing that again. I'll be 'unknown' as you say."

"Then, might I suggest, in future — having, of course, not underestimated her whilst keeping up appearances of discretion — you find yourself in a position to apprehend her, please do so at all preservation to her person."

Fushimi cocked his brow, but only just. "I wasn't planning on killing her. You made me promise not to do that, remember? Besides, we need her for information. More than that, the algorithm's still out there. We can't go letting that kind of supernatural technology loose for just anyone to find. What would be the point in keeping it a secret after that?"

Munakata smiled. "As ever, I place my upmost faith in you, Mr. Fushimi."

"I don't need your faith to do my job," Fushimi countered, turning back to leave.

The door closed gently after him, the Captain left alone to finish remainder of his miso with a grin.

Chapter Three: Hakkā