To Say Nothing
Reiji does not say anything to block Isaac's bodyguard from the bedroom where Cal waited, and feels a lack of guilt when Lizzie, a fuming Isaac, and bodyguard leave the room where Cal had been interrogated for the past few hours. They leave, Lizzie lingering with a gaze of disappointment and sorrow before she closes the door to the loft, and Reiji enters the bedroom to find a bruised, bloodied, tear and snot stained Cal waiting for him. He takes off his jacket and wraps it around the unresponsive blonde, who continues to stare blankly at the wall with a pair of dull eyes. Reiji Azuma feels remorse as her cries of pain and for him to come help her and stop them echo in his ears. The next day neither say anything to the other.
The Changing Waves
He agrees to the bodyguard mission, but instead of taking him to Claudia's mansion, the wheels of the Taurus take him to the wharf where he knows Ein will be working later. Zewi gets out of the car and just stands with the door open as the sun begins to sink, mind blank and feet unresponsive as the sound of waves lap at his ears. The sound of tires over the sand sidewalk has Zewi turning his upper body, and it's only when he sees Ein leave the driver's seat with a Socrum in her hand and a sniper rifle slung over her back does he regain control of his feet. The two share a nod as Zewi walks over, takes an Uzi and Glock 17 pistol from the rear of Ein's car before closing the door behind him, an ultimatum to the world as to the path he would forever walk from that moment on.
Mio Knows
Daisuke Godo lets out a tired sigh as he leans back on the couch in the Inferno-provided VIP suit, a frown of discontent marring his face. The cellphone on the table rings and Shiga picks it up before handing it to Daisuke with "It's Mio." A faint smile comes across the other man's face as he takes the phone and places it to his ear, a heaviness in his heart as he prepares himself to tell yet another lie to his little sister who thought he was her uncle and away on a business trip that did not have anything to do with the mafia. The words that come from Mio's mouth are the ones he was least expecting.
"When were you going to tell me you were…" a pause, then a slow inhale, her next words coming out in a hushed whisper "… in the mafia, Oni-san?"
Daisuke's mouth drops open and his eyes grow wide in shock, as somehow Mio had discovered his secret, and there was no way to go back to the way things were before. And yet as she explains how she found out, Daisuke slowly, tentatively relaxes once more as even though Mio knows, nothing has truly changed in their relationship. Except Mio now knew the truth and that might make her a target; except thankfully he was the first person she called after finding out and their conversation was occurring on an untraceable private line. Its somehow easier for him to keep it a secret, now that Mio knows the truth.
Seconds to Live
Cal was helping a drunk Judy return home when they hear it, a clattering bang in a nearby alleyway. "A cat?" Judy mumbles as the sound of footsteps follow a figure that emerges from the darkened alleyway. Said figure was very much not a cat, but a middle-aged male human with pale flushed skin, wide eyes, grey hair and shabby clothing that consisted of a brown belt, khaki pants and a white buttoned shirt. The panting man upon spotting them jogs towards the pair with a look of desperation and relief while shoves a small brown package at Judy. Cal takes it as she studies the strangely familiar man, trying to remember where she had last seen him before with a puzzled frown.
"Ah, you're that famous news reporter, Kirk Edwards!" Cal exclaims, eyes glittering with adoration for the man who had been credited with finding most of the information on her TV-News hero, the underground sweeper known to the media as Phantom.
Kirk smiles grimly at the praise before speaking, a movement in the shadows behind him making Cal attempt to peer around him as he talks in a frightened voice. "Please hurry, you must make sure this package gets to the pol–"
Two flashes of white light and the sound of echoing thunder coincide with the red hole that appears in Kirk's chest and head, silencing him as he falls forward, dead. Cal's eyes widen in fear as in slow motion, the package falls from her hand, Judy pushing Cal away from her and the shooter. In the same moment Judy takes two steps forward before four more flashes and bangs have the same number of holes appearing across Judy's back, and the African crashes to the floor at the same time the package does. With tears streaming from her jade-green eyes and in shock as her body moves without any input from her fried brain, Cal whirls around and runs away, desperate to live. She does so, but at the cost of her humanity and past…
To Follow Sooner
Reiji Azuma follows a depressed Muroto to the bar, having decided that Daisuke Godo and his associate Shiga would be protected by the witnesses presented in the steadily growing crowd from any would-be-assassins. As he enters the area that separated the bar from the rest of the casino, he spots her sitting there on a bar stool next to Muroto, and Reiji wonders briefly if somehow he had already drunk a few drinks without realizing it as the familiar girl by all means should be dead. But the figure of Elen wearing a blue sleeveless dress and a grey shoulder handbag does not disappear, she leans forward towards Muroto and places a gloved hand seductively on his arm, whispering something as he sips more alcohol. Reiji watches, a hand outstretched because she is alive and he needs to make sure that she is real, that what he sees is not a figment of his imagination, but it's too late, both have risen from the bar and were swallowed by the crowd of people, heading to the lobby and then the elevator. Reiji blinks once and then gives chase, arriving in the lobby just as the elevator door closes on the pair.
He presses the button for the elevator, waits for it to return knowing that it's too late to do anything to prevent Muroto's death. He enters, presses the button for the ninth floor, and steps out, instead taking the emergency stairs up because he knows the way she thinks, she trained him after all. Swiftly yet silently he goes up the stairs and sees her far up ahead, a blood stain on the front of her dress and a blooded knife being placed into the handbag. Calmly he walks up behind her but stops at the next corner down from the landing she crouches on, listening to the gears of the empty elevator as it reaches the ninth floor beyond the emergency exit door in front of her. Reiji speaks softly with a faint smile at her startled gasp as she whirls around to face him, a look of shock then recognition in her eyes. "Elen… I… wish I had followed you sooner…" At her questioning gaze Reiji explains with "…downstairs at the bar."
She stands up and opens the door, briefly staring back at him before speaking and allowing the door to close behind her as she enters the ninth floor hallway. "You shouldn't be here."
Reiji follows her, noting the lack of sound or sense of life behind room 917 where Muroto had been staying as he passes it as they walk towards the elevator. The metal doors open with a ding and Elen enters, Reiji smoothly stepping in after her with "You know I'll follow you everywhere you go. I refuse to lose you… not again." Her answer gaze as the elevator begins its descent to the lobby is one of acceptance for his decision, so Reiji follows her back towards the bar then out into the chilly night.