A/N Here's the chapter as promised! Next chapter will be posted on next Friday. Not much else to say except enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this
Chapter 22
July 31st — Shinjuku: Central Police Precinct, Late Evening…
The interrogation room of the SPB was entirely silent in the late hours of the night, it's lone occupant naturally having no desire to speak to himself. He'd been held in place for a fair bit of time, the police obviously intending to let him 'cook' prior to the questioning itself.
Breaking the quiet, the door opened, giving way to Naoto as she made her way towards the chair opposite the alleged criminal. He eyed the detective with a glare, clearly not appreciating the wait.
"Took you long enough," the man muttered.
"I'd have gotten here sooner if it weren't for your rather lengthy background file," countered Naoto, placing a lone folder at her front as she took her seat. "Speaking of which, do you prefer to be called Hajime Nakahara, Viper, Ace, or—"
"No idea about those other names seeing as how Hajime Nakahara is the only name I've got," he replied calmly.
"If you say so," Naoto said, her tone equally as even.
"As a matter a' fact, I do say so. I'm a law-abiding citizen, after all."
"Is that so?"
"Yep."
"Both historical and current evidence would suggest otherwise."
"Dunno what you mean."
Interrogation Viewing Room…
'Well, this is going to go nowhere fast,' thought Yu with a sigh.
Less than a few seconds of questioning revealed that the gangster fancied himself the slippery type. This wasn't his first rodeo either, meaning that unless Naoto could work some magic, they'd probably have better luck interrogating a rock in Shibuya Park.
Detective Jirikishi calmly entered the door, drawing Yu's attention. He took his place at the layer's side, eying the ongoing interrogation dispassionately. It seemed to take him very little time to realize what the end result would be.
"As capable as Detective Shirogane is, there's no shot she'll actually be able to get him to crack."
"As things are, probably not," admitted the silver-haired young man. He eyed the detective curiously from the corner of his eye. "You seemed to come to that conclusion a lot quicker than I imagined you would though."
"That's because I'm more than familiar with this one," Jirikishi explained, a wry grin crossing his lips. "Hajime Nakahara is one oily piece of work, but, sadly for us, he's not a rat."
"All the same, I have faith in Naoto. I'm sure she'll at least be able to get something out of him."
Jirikishi nodded his head along in a patronizing manner, going on to say, "Well, on the off-chance she doesn't… how do you feel about taking a little trip?"
"To where, exactly?" Yu questioned.
"Follow me to my desk real quick and I'll show ya," he replied with a smirk.
Without even waiting for a response, the black-haired man took his leave. Yu took a hesitant glance at the ongoing interrogation, though his instincts pulled him away and he soon followed the detective's footsteps.
Walking through the hallways of the police station was far more chaotic than Yu had expected. Even in the late hours of the night, it felt like a full-house with desk-jockeys and field-officers running around in what could barely be described as controlled chaos.
"Are things usually like this?" Yu asked.
"Recently? Yeah," answered Jirikishi, a bitter note to his voice. "The daytime shifts are fine, but the night shifts have been getting close to hell-on-earth level."
The detective guided his colleague to his desk and handed him a file, which he in turn opened and began glossing over. It was another person's criminal profile by the looks of it, and a rather extensive one at that.
"This solid-gold asshole's name is Shun Yamada. A 'former' big-time ringleader here in Shibuya that also happens to be Hajime Nakahara's last known boss."
"And judging by what you said before, I'm guessing you know where to find him," Yu stated.
"That I do," replied Jirikishi, taking the file back and lazily placing it on his desk once more. "He's not exactly hiding though, and he won't say no to answering a few questions… at least not if they're from me."
"In that case, lead the way."
"Gimme a sec, I gotta go grab something real quick," Jirikishi replied.
Yu nodded as the black-haired man walked away, leaving him to his own devices. In the downtime, he simply leaned against a nearby support beam, wanting to avoid getting in the way of the many bustling officers that flooded the area non-stop.
As he did so, however, he glimpsed something out of the corner of his vision. He turned in a hurry, a curious look plastered across his face as he continued to look off into the distance. He continued to scan for the characteristic red color that had caught his eye, yet he found nothing.
Jirikishi arrived back at exactly that point, quirking a curious brow at his soon-to-be partner's demeanor.
"Everything okay?" he asked plainly.
"Yeah, sorry," Yu apologized, giving his attention to the detective once more. "I thought I recognized someone for a second, but I must've been mistaken. Ready to go?"
"Yep, just follow me," Jirikishi stated. Though his instructions were simple enough, the cryptic words that followed had the specter of concern creeping into the forefront of Yu's mind. "Oh, and on that note, I hope you don't have a problem with strippers. Otherwise, you ain't gonna like where we're goin'."
"…beg your pardon?"
Shibuya: Red Light District, Some Time Later…
Jirikishi had driven both himself and Yu to perhaps one of the most unwholesome locations in all of Tokyo. The scents that wafted through the air were indescribable and inspired the desire to take three straight showers before jumping into a pool of bleach.
"I feel like the air is somehow violating my innocence…" Yu remarked evenly.
His comment earned an audible, if ever-so-slight, chuckle from his companion.
"Yeah, it'll do that," Jirikishi quipped. "C'mon, our destination is the reputable establishment just up ahead.'
The black-haired man had guided the pair to a building with a large neon sign labeled 'The Wood Shop', next to which was a smaller sign that oh-so-charmingly added 'tits and booze inside'.
Yu didn't think he'd seen anything quite like that in all his years on this earth, and short of a meme on the internet, he didn't think he would again. He was in total disbelief, a reaction that Jirikishi was both expecting and hoping for if his grin was anything to go by.
"Reputable establishment, huh?" Yu asked jokingly.
With a chuckle, Jirikishi moved on ahead. "Just try not to get eaten alive in there, okay pretty boy?"
They made their way past the bouncer with shocking ease. With just a few steps separating them from inside the club, they could hear the blaring music pounding the atmosphere. Though a nice prelude, it did little to fully prepare them for the debauchery they were about to walk into.
As they entered the doors into the main area, bright lights highlighted every stage and poll strewn out across the room while rave-lights and music bathed the entire atmosphere. Of course, no strip club was complete without its patrons, a sea of whom lined the ground level with countless bills grabbed tightly in the palms of their hands.
The dancers seemed to rile them up expertly, though that may have had something to do with the fact that they were barely wearing any clothes at all. And if given time, they likely wouldn't be wearing any.
'If you take away all the people, it kind of reminds me of when we had to rescue Rise at the Maruki Strip…' Yu thought. He sweatdropped, internally adding, 'I can't ever let her know about this, otherwise she might actually kill me.'
A moment later, he took notice of several bras flying across the room, one of which went right by his face courtesy of a nearby dancer that presumably wanted to attract his attention. He looked over to see her covering her breasts teasingly as she winked in his direction, all the while those nearby continued to hoot, holler, and throw a virtual storm of money her way.
The Wild Card looked away immediately and cleared his throat.
'Scratch that, she would definitely kill me,' Yu thought.
"Enjoying the atmosphere?" Jirikishi all but shouted, barely managing to get his voice across to his partner.
"I think I'd enjoy it more if it were quieter!" Yu shouted back.
"My thoughts exactly! Follow me!"
They made their way towards a door in the back, catching the attention of one of the security personnel who quickly came up to him with his hands raised as if to caution them to return to the main floor.
"Sorry gentleman, this area is off limits," the man stated. "I'm gonna have to ask you to…"
The black-haired man casually flashed his police badge out of his pocket and stopped the bouncer mid-sentence, causing him to visible stiffen. It was clear that the large man was about to start floundering, but he was saved the trouble.
"I'm just here to see your boss," he stated. "Tell Shun Yamada that Detective Tetsuo Jirikishi is here to speak to him. I'd be shocked if you weren't back in a minute opening that door for us."
Though he was clearly at a loss and had no idea what was going on whatsoever, the security guard nodded stiffly before going through the door himself, presumably to talk to his boss as instructed.
Just as the detective had predicted, the man was back within a minute, appearing somewhat shocked. He held the door open, gesturing for them to go inside.
"Go right on in," he stated.
With a nod, both Yu and Jirikishi entered, the new scenery being vastly different from the main floor they'd just left behind. It was a room that was nearly half the size, though still sizeable, and had only a few stripper polls, a singular main stage, and a rather opulent appearance overall. It gave off the feel of a real VIP room to say the least.
At a table in the center of the room sat singular man surrounded by two girls in strip wear and a full squad of men that looked as if they'd been in no less than a dozen shoot-outs and knife fights between them. The lone gentleman seated at the table took notice of the pair and motioned for them to make their way towards him.
The man, presumed to be Shun Yamada, certainly fit the aesthetic of a strip club owner to say the least. He was garbed in a well-made white suit with a dark-red undershirt and a gaudy gold chain wrapped around his neck. His hair was pitch-black and slicked back, though it didn't appear greasy as one would have thought.
Worthy of note, and certainly strange, was the fact that he seemed to be smiling at the law-enforcement duo. He even gestured for them to take a seat across from him with enthusiasm that seemed reserved for friends.
"You're in a good mood, Shun," Jirikishi uttered, a throaty chuckle escaping as he spoke. "What's the occasion?"
"Getting to see your miserable sorry mug always did put a smile on my face," he replied. His eyes shifted to the silver-haired add-on that the detective had brought. "Who's your friend?"
"Yu Narukami," he stated. "I happen to work for the SIU."
"Ah, that crowd," muttered Shun, leaning back comfortably in his chair. "So, what brings you here to my humble establishment? Here to check out the girls?"
The blonde-haired woman at his side sent a look Yu's way that sent a shiver down his spine. Her eyes had all the grace and ferocity of a cheetah about to pounce on its next meal.
"If so, I call dibs. It's been a while since I've gotten one so cute," she cooed.
The other, a black-haired woman who was equally as attractive if not more so quickly protested.
"Aw, no fair. Why not split him? He looks like he can handle it just fine after all~"
While the women made their way behind Yu and began to caress his arms, he stiffened noticeably. He could not have appeared more uncomfortable if he tried, which became a source of great amusement the assumed the other two men seated at the table.
"As fun as it is to watch this, and believe me, it is…" Jirikishi began in a cheeky tone. "The truth is, we're here for business. Serious business."
The previously lackadaisical club owner seemed to become a bit sterner. He nodded in understanding, ready to wave the girls off.
"Sorry ladies, mind giving us some privacy?" Shun requested.
Though the two rather beautiful women did so with pouts written all over their faces, they nevertheless complied. The blonde blew a kiss to Yu as she left, causing him to chuckle nervously.
'That I ended up in this situation can only mean I need to reevaluate how I make life decisions,' Yu thought.
"So," Shun spoke, his posture stiffening. "To what do I owe the displeasure?"
"Blame your boy Hajime Nakahara," replied Jirikishi. "We recently picked him up off the street. My friend here was the one that made the arrest possible—ended up punching his lights out too."
"Is that so?" he asked curiously.
"There was more to it than that, but yeah, pretty much," Yu replied.
"I like you already, kid," chuckled Shun, sporting a good-natured grin. "Wish I was there to see it myself. Still, I fail to see how this has got anything to do with me."
"Like I said, he's one of yours, isn't he?" Jirikishi stated pointedly.
"Was one of mine. I ain't got shit to do with him anymore," he replied, his eyes narrowed at the veiled accusation. "And for the record, that goes for anyone that's still in my former line of work. Truth is, I'm legit now and have been since I got out, so I wouldn't know what Nakahara's been up to lately."
"Prostitution," Jirikishi stated.
"Must not be doing well, then. He's scrawny and has a face only a mother could love."
"He was a handler," Yu clarified, his response serious in spite of the clear attempt at a joke. "Our belief is that he's working with a criminal group that's recently set up shop in Shinjuku, working mainly in drugs and prostitution rackets."
His words inspired a subtle but noticeable reaction on the part of the club owner. He nodded along, clearly a sign the wheels in his head were turning. Even if that didn't mean he was directly involved, it did mean he likely knew something. Jirikishi quickly picked up on that fact and struck when the metaphorical iron was hot.
"But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" the detective pressed.
"Right you are," he replied.
"Hmm, I see…"
As Jirikishi trailed off, he reached into his pocket, shocking nearly everyone in the room by taking out his standard issue service pistol and aiming it directly at Shun. The guards, lacking firearms themselves, could only fumble in place with panic-stricken expression on their faces. Their boss was the exact opposite and remained perfectly calm, a fact that Yu took immediate notice of. His body language screamed 'been there done that', which sent the Wild Card's mind through a loop.
'Regardless of what happens from this point forward, I now know he's completely insane…' Yu thought.
"Really? We're doing this again?" Shun asked.
The detective didn't answer and instead reached into his other pocket, pulling out a one-hundred-yen coin that was clearly old or a collector's item of some kind given its size and solid-gold minting.
"Yep, we're really doing this. Again. Really, again with the coin?" Shun uttered rhetorically, throwing his hands up in an exasperated manner. "You know I hate it when you do this."
"Then you could always just tell me what I want to know and we can skip this part."
"You know what—no, flip away," he replied.
"Uh, what are you doing…?" Yu whispered, a sense of urgency in his tone.
"Relax," came the deadpanned response. His attention shifted back to the club owner. "You know the drill: I ask the question, and if you don't answer or lie to me, I flip the coin. Heads you get another chance, tails your body gets a new hole for you to enjoy."
It was rare that Yu Narukami was unable to truly read someone's intent, but this was one such time. He assumed that it was a bluff or a feint of some sort on account of the fact that Shun seemed relatively calm even facing down the barrel of a gun. Still, the look in Jirikishi's eyes was so stone-cold that he wasn't sure.
"Bite me," Shun ultimately shot back.
"On that note," began Jirikishi. "What do you know about the recent crime wave?"
"Piss off."
"Okay then…"
With effortless perfection that could only have been achieved through repeated practice, Jirikishi flipped the coin straight into the air and caught it in the palm of his hand. He closed his fist around it, clearly to add to the suspense.
The guards were so nervous that they looked as if they could crush diamonds with their sphincters, and even Shun who had thus far remained mostly calm, seemed as if he was starting to sweat.
"You sure you don't want to answer?" Jirikishi offered.
The club owner flipped him off without uttering so much as a word. Jirikishi then nodded, opening his palm and revealing the outcome to be heads. The room breathed a collective sigh of relief, though things were certainly not over.
"Let's try that again then," Jirikishi muttered, his brown orbs holding a chilly aura to them as they stared through the former gangster. "What do you know about the recent crime wave?"
"You can find the answer on the corner of 'kiss' and 'my ass'," he replied.
"Points for creativity, but the coin flip remains nonetheless."
An indescribable tensity gripped the air as the coin flipped. Time seemed to slow as it rotated again and again, though once it reached its apex, the silver-haired lawyer among them reached out and grabbed it with his own hand, allowing time to return to its normal flow.
"Once was more than enough," Yu stated.
"Thank Christ at least one of you is sane," Shun muttered. Even he couldn't hide the relief from his demeanor. "Enough with the fuckin' coin already. If you really want to know that badly, then fine."
"Well alright then," muttered Jirikishi evenly, placing his gun back in its holster.
The former gangster was clearly agitated, though no one could blame him. He grabbed a pack of cigarettes and a lighter out of his blazer pocket, intent on calming his nerves with a good smoke after just having had a gun pointed at him for the better part of five minutes.
"Mind if I get one of those?" Jirikishi offered.
"Eat shit and die."
Despite Shun's words, he tossed both the pack of cigarettes and the lighter across the table, letting the detective bum one of them in the process.
"Sorry if this bother's you, by the way… uh, Narukami-san, was it?" Shun spoke, exhaling his first, and noticeably large, puff of smoke. "Though if you smoke, feel free to take one. Sure, it takes time off your life, but when this asshole is in it, that might just be a good thing."
"Feeling's mutual," Jirikishi shot back.
"I don't smoke," stated Yu. "Though I don't mind being around those that do."
"Gotcha."
The plain reply was the last thing that was said for a good few minutes. During that time, Yu kept looking back and forth between Shun and Detective Jirikishi as they finished off their respective cigarette's.
'I can't tell if these two just get along super weirdly or if they hate each other's guts,' Yu thought. 'I guess those two things aren't mutually exclusive, but still…'
Even so, he'd yet to see a relationship where two people weirdly got along that involved one of said two people threatening to shoot the other. The guards appeared as equally confused though, so Yu was far from alone in the metaphorical boat he found himself in.
"Anyway, you wanted to know about all the shit going down right now, right?" Shun uttered, being the first to actually speak after quite some time. "Sorry to say I really don't know much."
"With how close you keep your ear to the ground, you really expect me to believe that?" Jirikishi responded disbelievingly. "Do I have to bring out the coin again?"
"You and your coin can eat my ass like fresh groceries," he growled, putting out his cigarette on the ash tray at the center of the table. "I'm telling you the truth. In all likelihood, you know just about as much as I do."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd still like to hear what you have to say."
"…well for starters, it's just like you said. Nakanohara linked up with whatever new group has been stirring the pot lately," began Shun. "He was saying it was the easiest work of his life and that I should start workin' for whoever this new guy is too. I waved it off for obvious reasons."
"So, there is a 'new guy' then?" Yu inquired.
"Sorry to get your hope's up, but that's just a figure of speech, kid," Shun answered. His eyes shifted to the detective once more. "Even I ain't got the slightest idea who, what, or even how many people are at the top of this crap. And to be honest, I don't wanna know."
"And why's that?" asked Jirikishi.
"Because I'm smart enough to know when something's way over my head," Shun explained, his tone deathly serious. "It doesn't take a genius to realize what's happening right now isn't normal. In fact, the truth is I'm packing up shop in the next week and heading to Kyoto. That's how god damn little I want to do with all this."
"I'm surprised to hear that coming from you," said Jirikishi.
"What can I say? Maybe those few years in jail changed my outlook on life," he uttered in a voice heavy with sarcasm. His expression became oddly solemn. "I just don't like where things are going. That's all there is to it."
Jirikishi seemed to understand wordlessly as to why the former gangster had said what he had, though Yu couldn't help but be a bit puzzled. Though he didn't say anything aloud, he wondered why it was he seemed to have such a moral hang-up with the current state of Shibuya.
It was rare to see a hardcore criminal have any semblance of a moral compass, after all.
"For what little it's worth, I'd tell you if I knew who was behind all this," Shun admitted.
"It's worth as much as a fake thousand-yen bill," Jirikishi joked.
"Smartass."
"I disagree," Yu chimed in, drawing a curious look from the two men amidst their banter. "Intent matters. I don't know your past, but I can at least appreciate your being genuine with us now."
The silver-haired young man had thus far hardly said a word since the conversation began. He didn't know a single think about Shun outside of his rap sheet and the fact that he knew Detective Tetsuo Jirikishi. Nevertheless, the look of firm conviction that he directed towards Shun in that moment was as if he was looking straight into the man's soul.
It was an odd feeling, though strangely it wasn't an unpleasant one.
"…where did you find this kid?" Shun asked with a chuckle.
"An online dating site."
"Funny, you two don't seem like a match," Shun quipped. "And I never said I don't know anything. I have heard some rumors at the very least, and I have a theory of my own that might help out… though I'm sure Detective Dickhead over there has probably suspected the same thing at this point."
"Whatever you can give us will be of great help, I'm sure," Yu replied.
"Alright, then let me just confirm something," Shun stated. "The prostitution racket needs no introduction, but I'm curious about the other half. The drugs you're seeing dealt out right now—it's fentanyl, right?"
"In droves," answered Jirikishi.
"Well then there ya go," Shun uttered, throwing his hands up in exasperation. "That's el classico right there. Straight outta the old playbook."
"Yeah, I can't lie, I was starting to think along those lines too…" Jirikishi muttered to himself.
"You'll have to excuse my ignorance," Yu stated.
The club owner chuckled, internally realizing that very few people from outside Shinjuku would probably have known what he was talking about. He gave the lawyer his attention, intent on clearing things up for him.
"How much do you know about the criminal history in Shinjuku?" Shun inquired.
"Outside of recent crime statistics and the Kaneshiro case, not much," replied Yu.
"Then you at least know about half the story," Shun thought aloud. "For the rest, you have to go back almost four to five years ago. Shinjuku was always a cesspool before that time, but around then was when things started to get really crazy. And it all started with fentanyl."
"Ground zero for the drug was Shinjuku because it was already, like Shun said, a cesspool," Jirikishi added. "It spread like wildfire on word of mouth alone. Eventually, the big players in the drug game were making so much money that they could get politicians and police officers in their pockets and became almost untouchable. And if they weren't being bribed, they were users themselves and couldn't afford to go against the dealers in the first place."
"Prostitution started to skyrocket around that time, too. The gangsters thought they were invincible and figured they'd make Shinjuku a hub for all sorts of debauchery that could drain a meaningless, depressed corporate drone of his excess cash in a single night," Shun stated. "Worse was that they were right. Money came in by the truckload, and it was all covered up for the most part. The gravy train just kept on rolling."
"Sounds about right so far…" Yu uttered, finding disappointment in the predictable. "So, what put a stop to it?"
"What we affectionately refer to as 'The Purge'," replied Jirikishi dispassionately. "Legions of cops, a zero-tolerance policy, massive corruption investigations, huge jail times—the works."
"It felt like it happened overnight. Heh, I remember it like it was yesterday," Shun muttered, his voice almost nostalgic. "No one knows for sure what set it off, and the fact that everyone has their own story they like to peddle around doesn't help to find the truth. However, at the start, word was a cop was killed off by one of the soon-to-be heavy hitters at the time. Got run down by a truck, name was—"
"I think I'm more than familiar with the details. No need to repeat them," Yu quickly cut in.
Shun couldn't help but look at him strangely. The pointed edge to his tone caught him completely off guard. It was almost as if he was bothered by the story itself, at least to some degree.
"R-Right, well," muttered Shun, clearing his throat. "Yours truly was also one of the victims taken down in the purge. Detective Douchebag over here happened to be the one to do it."
"Or so I'm constantly told," Jirikishi said uncaringly. "You really should stop complaining. Your sentence is done, and you got one hell of a deal since you were one of the first to go down. Had it been anyone else, you wouldn't have had the opportunity to squeal on your rivals and take them down with you."
"Anyway," said Shun, waving off the detective's back-talk. "After the purge of Shinjuku, crime went underground. Then we got Kaneshiro, and you know the rest. However, it's important to note the similarities between what's going down now and how things were back then."
The implications of the former gangster's words were easily discernable. At the very least, they were to the gray-eyed lawyer, who had been listening intently the entire time.
"You think it's one of the old crime bosses," Yu reasoned.
"One of them, maybe a lieutenant; even a grunt or whatever," Shun stated. "It all boils down to them being part of the old guard."
"Interesting theory," Jirikishi said, his expression ever-deadpanned. "One problem: all of the old crime bosses from the pre-purge era are serving multiple life sentences and haven't seen the light of day in half a decade. Their lieutenants are right there with 'em too. In fact, the only one that fits those criteria who's out of prison right now… is you."
The thinly veiled accusation was, understandably, not well-received. Even though in truth he didn't take it seriously, the brown-haired man's eyes narrowed upon hearing Jirikishi's words.
"Or maybe you should consider this possibility," Shun began, his disposition becoming remarkably serious. "Maybe the SPD didn't do as good a job cleaning the underbelly as they thought. Maybe you missed someone, and maybe that someone got the means to screw you guys good."
It was obvious to anyone watching the interaction that the mood was growing somewhat testy. Clearly, neither of the two entirely appreciated what the other had said. They didn't say it out loud, but it remained painfully obvious nevertheless.
"Shun-san," spoke Yu, intent on getting back on track. "You mentioned you'd heard rumors?"
"That I did," he replied. His eyes softened as he looked to the silver-haired young man once more. "Rumored locations of where the hub of their activity currently sits, etcetera. Keep in mind though that they are just rumors, so you may have to shift through every lead I can give and hopefully you find at least one good trail to follow."
"That would be a great help," Yu stated with a small smile.
"And of course, I'll make sure to pay you a visit again if they all turn out to be a load of crap," Jirikishi added.
"Well, as fun as that would be," said Shun, rolling his eyes, "I'd rather you put a stop to this shit as soon as is possible. Who knows, I may not have to move after all if the SPD can actually be useful for a change."
"It'd certainly break my heart to see you leave, so I'll do my best," Jirikishi replied.
The club owner promptly extended his middle finger, though afterwards he quickly took out a piece of notebook paper and started jotting things down by way of pen. When the list was done and dusted, he handed it over to Yu, who was more than happy to take it.
"Thank you," said Yu.
"Don't mention it, and I mean that literally."
Jirikishi quickly turned to Yu, "Well, on that note, we should be going."
With that, the three exchanged curt bows of their heads before the duo of Yu and Jirikishi took their leave. They quickly made their way out the door, returning to the sea of debauchery that was the club's main floor.
When all was quiet once again, Shun took out another cigarette, taking his time in placing it against his lips before lighting it. He took a long inhale before blowing out a puff of smoke, his head tilting to the ceiling in an almost wistful manner.
"Good luck… shithead," Shun muttered.
Shinjuku: Red Light District, Shortly Thereafter…
The car ride back to the police precinct had been quieter than a graveyard in the dead of night. Given that the passengers therein were two individuals that preferred to keep quiet more often than not, perhaps that wasn't so surprising.
That would have been the case were it not for a very obvious elephant in the room that needed to be addressed.
"I can tell you're bothered by what I did back there," Jirikishi muttered. "If you've got something on your mind, I'd rather you just say it, you know."
"Actually, I was just thinking about how a friend of mine would go about killing me if she knew I stepped foot in that strip club," Yu replied.
"You talkin' about Detective Shirogane, by chance?" Jirikishi inquired, his face holding the slightest hint of curiosity.
"Hm? No, not at all," replied Yu, quirking a brow. "What made you think that?"
"Oh, no reason," he replied, feigning ignorance. "Still, I'm surprised. It really didn't bother you? What I did back there, I mean."
"There wasn't a chance you'd actually do it," Yu stated.
The conviction in his tone actually caught the detective off guard.
"What makes you so sure?"
"Well, why else would you have used a trick coin?" Yu answered.
A pleasant chuckle escaped the detective's lips. He couldn't help but be somewhat impressed and pleasantly surprised by the young lawyer's answer. A moment later, he took the coin from his pocket and flipped it over to his passenger for him to examine to his heart's content.
"Good eye," Jirikishi complimented, sporting a slight but noticeable grin. "Thanks, by the way, for pulling the whole 'let's dial it down' act back there. It was a huge help."
"So, you were counting on me doing that?"
"More like hoping, but it would've been fine either way."
"Why resort to that in the first place?" Yu pressed, asking the one question that had been burning in his mind for quite some time. "You and Shun-san seemed to be on fairly good terms, all things considered. He'd probably have told us what we wanted to know without that trick."
"His attitude towards me is based on respect, not friendship," Jirikishi remarked. "Back in the day before I got him to give himself up, I pulled the same trick. I'm sure he'd never admit it since it pissed him off, but that little stunt was what got him to respect me in a weird messed-up sort of way. I just wanted to give him a reminder since he may have been connected to recent events."
"I didn't really get the feeling that he was," said Yu.
"Instincts only get you so far, kid. You've got to be prepared to suspect your own parents, if need be."
A short but pleasant silence ensued, all the while the young lawyer examined the gold-minted coin on each of its identical sides.
"…do you always carry this coin with you?" Yu questioned. He received a nod. "In which case, I have to ask: Do you make a habit of pulling the same stunt on other criminals?"
"No, only to Shun," Jirikishi stated, clear sincerity in his tone.
"Then why do you carry this with you all the time?" Yu asked.
Though the inquiry didn't come as a shock to the raven-haired man, he certainly took his time in deciding how he would respond. Just from that fact alone, Yu realized it had clearly been a far more personal question than he'd thought it to be.
"If you don't want to answer—"
"No, it's fine. I'm just wondering where to start," Jirikishi interjected. "You see, when I was younger, I was always wishy-washy. That always drove my father up a wall. He'd ask me what I wanted to dinner, and I'd just respond with 'anything works for me' or 'I don't have a preference'."
"That doesn't surprise me whatsoever," Yu stated blankly.
"Heh, smartass," muttered Jirikishi, though he offered no words to the contrary. "I couldn't tell ya why I was that way. At some point though, my father came up with the idea of flipping a coin anytime I gave one of those answers. He'd give me two options and I'd choose which was heads and which was tails and then he'd flip."
There was a pause in the conversation as they neared a red-light. Jirikishi took the opportunity to grab a cigarette from his pocket and light it, rolling the windows down in the front of the car so as not to bother his passenger with the smoke.
"After a while, it wouldn't even be limited to little stuff like food or toys. He'd ask me deeper questions like how I thought about certain things and the like. Weirdly, he'd always have the most amused look on his face for some reason and I could never figure it out," Jirikishi continued, smiling wistfully at the memories. "It started to bug me as I got older and I eventually asked him what he was on about. He told me 'Heads always betrays your true colors'. It took me all of five seconds to realize he was right, and to this day that might've been the most pissed I've ever been. The idea of being so transparent in someone else's eyes just bothered me endlessly."
"Is that when he gave you the coin?" Yu inquired, clearly drawn in by the story.
"No, that wasn't for a few years after," Jirikishi replied. He took another deep breath of the cigarette as the light turned green. "He gave it to me on his deathbed. In what may very well have been the last meaningful words he said to anyone, he pulled me close, placed the coin in my hand, and told me this: When in doubt, use this and stay true to your own path."
"I'll admit, that was heavier of a story than I was expecting," Yu said solemnly. "I'm honestly surprised you told me."
"So am I," the detective chuckled, putting out the cigarette in an ash tray. "It's not a story I tell to most people. Still, there's something about you that's so comforting and reassuring—I can't really tell what it is."
"I get that a lot, actually," Yu replied with a small smile.
"I'll be you do. But anyway, do you have that list of places that Shun gave us? We've still got some time, so maybe we could go over 'em before we get back to the station."
"Sounds good."
Shibuya: Dance Studio near the Omnia Megamall
Ann Takamaki stood tall and proud as she held the finishing pose of the dance routine she'd been tasked with performing, her breathing heavy and her body visibly sweating. Everything was a blank for her, though nevertheless her bright and cheerful smile shined from ear to ear. Regardless of whether or not the graders of her performance believed she'd done a good job, she knew in her heart that she had given the dance everything she had.
Thankfully, the auditioning committee for Rise's concert was more than enough impressed with what they'd seen. Even those with stereotypically skeptical dispositions jotted down notes on their clipboards with bobbing heads and pleasantly-surprised expressions.
One of the women spoke up, smiling warmly as she addressed the blonde.
"Thank you very much, Takamaki-san. I'll admit, we were hesitant to accept this audition given this was a last-minute ask by Rise-san, but I think it's safe to say we're all quite impressed," she stated. "Do you really have no formal dance training?"
"None that I'm aware of," Ann said with a sheepish giggle.
"I almost don't believe it," laughed one of the judges. "In any case, we're glad to draw up the formal paperwork for you to sign if you're willing to wait a short while."
"Not a problem!" she chirped.
With that, the aspiring model made her way into the waiting room, sighing in relief and fanning herself as everything started to sink in.
'I made it! Yes!' Ann internally cheered. 'I can't wait to tell everyone! Shiho's gonna flip!'
Her excitement had the effect of dulling her senses, at least to the point that Rise was able to sneak up behind her quite easily without catching her attention. She captured her in a bear-hug from behind, obviously taking her by surprise.
"Guess who!" the idol stated cheerfully, a bright smile crossing her features.
"Rise!" Ann exclaimed in joy. She soon freed herself of the redhead's hold, only to then capture her in a hug from the front all over again. "I'm surprised you're here! I thought you'd be like super busy or something!"
"Not untrue, but I wouldn't miss out on congratulating you!" Rise replied. "So… congrats! I told you you'd nail it!"
"Ehehe~ thanks!" she replied, a bashful look gracing her features. "I was pretty nervous right before the start, but as soon as I was dancing, all that went away."
"I know what you mean. That's how it was for me when I first started too," Rise answered. "I do want to apologize though for the timing though. Are you sure your parents are okay with you being out so late?"
"It's no big deal," Ann said reassuringly. "My parents are out of the country right now, and even if they weren't, they're generally pretty laid back as long as I'm not out all night or something crazy like that."
"She says, being a Phantom Thief," Rise uttered jokingly.
"One of many reasons I'll never tell them about it," Ann giggled.
"Well, I've gotta get going for now, so I'll leave you to it," Rise said with a warm smile. "Besides, I'm sure you have people you wanna message about this."
"You bet! My best friend Shiho is gonna totally flipwhen I tell her!" Ann replied.
Rise adopted a coy, almost teasing grin as she said, "I was more talking about Ren-kun."
Though the blonde blushed slightly, her overall reaction was in contrast to what Rise had expected. A certain warmth breathed through her eyes as her lips curled into what could only be described as a reflexive smile.
"I'm pretty sure he knew I'd get the part before even I did," Ann replied almost quietly, emotion clear in her voice.
Rise couldn't help but look on with a wistful expression. Though the urge to give her best 'aww' at the adorable display was certainly present, the overpowering feeling of nostalgia at what she was witnessing more than trumped it.
'We're really two of a kind, huh…?' Rise thought. "You're probably right. Anyway, I'll be going now, Ann-chan. Be seeing you at practice!"
"Count on it!"
Shinjuku: Central Police Precinct
In the wake of a long and frustrating interrogation, Naoto could only slump into the comfortable chair of the conference room and sigh. It had been quite some time since she felt both so tired and annoyed simultaneously.
It hardly filled her with any satisfaction that Nakahara was going to be in a prison soon enough. In fact, she could have cared less if he walked free entirely provided they got something even remotely close to useful information. Sadly, that wasn't the case, and at the moment she had no partner to discuss it with.
The conference room doors soon opened, giving way to Yu, filling her with the closest thing she'd come to joy in hours.
"Ah, there you two are," muttered Naoto, picking herself up from within the chair. "I was surprised that you weren't in the viewing room when I'd finished. A few officers mentioned both you and Detective Jirikishi left quite some time ago."
"Sorry we bailed on you, but I promise we have results to show for it," Yu replied. "First though, I've gotta ask… did you manage to get anything out of Nakahara?"
"Sadly, no," Naoto replied with a grimace. "I was surprised to find that he was rather… rather…"
The blue-haired beauty trailed off, looking in several different directions of the room with a puzzled look crossing her face. She sniffed the air, only becoming more and more confused as a sudden onset smell assaulted her senses.
Eventually, she looked to Yu, having identified that he was most definitely the source.
"Were you… were you at a strip club?" asked a clearly shocked Naoto.
"Yes, yes I was," Yu replied.
His stone-cold expression and deadpanned voice had Naoto at a complete loss. She expected him to explain in at least some detail, but he remained entirely silent.
"And you've no intentions of elaborating on that?" she inquired.
"Oh, no, of course there's a reason. I just wanted to see your reaction," Yu replied.
"Yet again, I must say that I have never and will never understand your sense of humor…"
"It's an acquired taste," Yu retorted with a good-natured smirk. "Anyway, while you were interrogating Nakanohara, Detective Jirikishi grabbed me and took me to said gangster's old boss. I'm sure you can guess where exactly that was."
"I assume a strip club," Naoto uttered. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You didn't—"
"Absolutely not," Yu immediately answered.
"Considering the smell permeating off of you, I admit I have my doubts," Naoto muttered, crossing her arms before next she spoke. "But I'll believe take your word for it. Were you able to find out anything useful?"
It was then that the young lawyer produced a hand-written list of various locations. Seeing the list, Naoto was quick, and correct, to assume they were potential areas of interest in their investigation.
"Is any of this credible?" Naoto asked, a rare bit of hopefulness findings its way into her tone.
"I gave a copy of the list to Jirikishi and he's scouting out the locations to see what he can find," Yu answered. "I told him to note down anything remotely suspicious whatsoever since obviously we would need to assume these are only key locations in the other world."
"Along those lines… there's actually something I wanted to discuss with you."
Noticing his friend's stern expression only added to Yu's curiosity. When she brought up her phone and showed him a video that was clearly taken from within the Metaverse, though it was little more than just a held shot on a group of buildings. At first glance, it didn't seem that abnormal, but he was able to realize that these buildings were in fact unique. They lacked the characteristic graffiti that had covered all of Shinjuku that they'd thus far seen on the other side.
"This is the Shinjuku portion of the Metaverse, right?" Yu asked simply to be sure.
"Yes," she answered. "The fact that they don't have the markings we were seeing earlier is significant, but watch closely. It's not done just yet."
A few seconds later as the recording was winding down, he could see the characteristic 'MINE' graffiti begin to seep its way onto the sides of some of the buildings in the shot. It moved at the pace of a snail, but still it was moving.
"You can take it as glass half-full or half-empty," Naoto stated as she retracted her phone. "On the one hand, the cognitive version of the city hasn't been totally overrun just yet. But on the other, it's certainly headed in that direction."
"Where did you take this video?"
"Near the brink of the city's center. I don't know if the distortion is collapsing in on all sides, and I don't know the pace. However, this is at least a start."
The sole remaining question to consider was what exactly would happen if and when the distortion coated the entirety of the city. While they didn't know the answer, they could say with absolute certainty that nothing good could come of it.
"I'll let the others know what we've found," Yu abruptly stated.
Naoto was quick to respond. "Please do. I'll go find Detective Jirikishi and lend him a helping hand in the meantime."
She hadn't been able to take so much as a step before her partner spoke up out of concern alone.
"Actually," said Yu, holding his hand up and stopping the young woman's departure. "I think you should pack it in for tonight. Some rest will do you good, Naoto."
It was quite obvious that she was about to protest, but a rarely-seen stern look took its place in Yu's eyes that seemed to pierce through to her very psyche. In her mind, she plotted out the likely argument that would ensue and concluded well in advance that one way or another, he would get her to give up. There were worse things, she supposed. After all, she'd been working almost non-stop for thereabouts of two days by that point, so he wasn't exactly wrong.
"…very well, though I suggest you do the same," Naoto stated.
"I'll do just that," replied Yu with a smile. "Come on, let's head to the train station."
For a time, there was a comfortable silence between the two. They exited the precinct together and now walked the ever-bustling city streets of Shinjuku.
It was at that point that the silver-haired young man spoke up, a question coming to his mind that he simply needed to ask.
"Hey, Naoto…" spoke Yu.
"Yes, what is it?" she asked.
"You seemed to recognize what a strip club smells like really quickly," he remarked. "How exactly is that?"
"T-That's none of your concern."
She cleared her throat and averted her gaze, clearly embarrassed. As such, Yu didn't want to press further, though he couldn't help but feel amused at her reaction.
"Okay, I won't pry," Yu replied. "But in return, I'd appreciate it if you could do me the favor of not telling anyone about the finer details of tonight."
"…so that is to say don't tell Rise that you went to a strip club and likely received a lap dance?" Naoto mused, a bit of bite to her voice.
"I think it's important to note that I did not get a lap dance."
"And yet you smell as if a stripper—or more likely stripers—were grinding all over you for a time."
"…which you would know how, again?"
Her silence marked the end of any discussion on the topic.
A/N There you have it, and yet again the next chapter will be next Friday. Until then!