Chapter 11: Consequences
Akashi pressed his thumb against a panel near the lift buttons, and a slow hum filled the space as the elevator began to ascend. Momoi felt claustrophobic, even though there was ample space for her to move around, but half a minute later she felt the familiar swoon in her gut as the elevator stopped.
"Welcome to my office," Akashi said as soon as the doors opened, revealing a large room bordered with floor-to-ceiling windows and a glass desk. There were black couches with a coffee table and wooden flooring with an assortment of rugs. It looked more like a penthouse than an office. Akashi opened his mouth to speak, when a gentle vibrating thrum sounded in the air. He gestured for Momoi to take a seat, taking his mobile out of his pocket and walking away.
Pink eyes focused on the other man in the room, a tall and slim person with faded hair and pale eyes. His gaze met hers and she felt a little uneasy looking at his expressionless face.
"Do you want something to drink?"
She blinked. The voice had been so quiet and disinterested that she wasn't sure she had heard correctly. She shook her head with a smile, and he shrugged. "What's your name?" she asked hesitantly.
"Mayuzumi," he responded curtly, not bothering with asking her back.
"I'm Momoi," she said anyway. "I went to the same middle school as Akashi-kun."
That seemed to spark some interest in that blank gaze. "Middle school, huh?"
Momoi nodded. "What do you do for Akashi? Are you his secretary?"
Mayuzumi scowled at that, his eyes flitting away. "Secretary?" he scoffed. "That's putting it mildly. I guess I'm many things, but in the end, just another thing for him to use."
"Sorry?" Momoi leaned forwards, eyebrows scrunched.
"No, it's nothing," Mayuzumi pressed his lips together and turned around to look out the window. It was clear to her that she wouldn't be getting anything more out of the man.
"What?" Akashi snapped into his phone.
"You heard what I said," the man on the other end calmly reported. "Aida just called me. And with the location she's given me, it's definitely Hara's drop point. Whoever this Kagami guy is, he's got contacts. Isn't the other one, Aomine, isn't he one of yours?"
Akashi looked back quickly, but Momoi was busy making small talk with Mayuzumi to be paying him any attention. "Yes, that's what I thought as well. We'll see. Where are they getting their information from?" he wondered aloud. He knew Kagami and Aomine were going to see Midorima, but he also knew Midorima wasn't stupid enough to defy him and give up such an important location, and yet there were few other people who knew this address as well.
Which reminded him…he hadn't checked up on Kagami's phone in a while.
"Thank you, Matsumoto. It is good to have someone as high up as you with me on this." He walked over to his computer. "I'm going to tell Hara to move his goods. It won't do well for Aida to find them."
"Okay," Matsumoto's voice was a little unsure. "We're on our way down though. We'll be there in around two hours."
"Then stall," Akashi grit out. "Maybe have them regroup at some other place. Wait for Hara's all-clear before you move in." He smiled as another thought occurred to him. "It'll also lend Kagami's words less credibility if it is empty when he gets there. He's been a thorn in my side for too long."
Matsumoto sighed. "Alright then."
"I'll let Hara know now," Akashi disconnected the call and logged into his system. This was how he got into all the other systems he had hacked. Akashi Enterprises had software everywhere, prisons and governments and businesses. And he had access to all of it.
There it was, on Kagami Taiga's phone, an electronic note with the address of Hara's warehouse and also a new blank contact with a phone number that Akashi didn't recognise. Is this the source of your information, Kagami?
Akashi coughed politely. "I'm sorry, Momoi-san, but something urgent has come up. I'll have Chihiro show you the way back."
"Wait!" Momoi stood up, frowning. "It's important, Akashi-kun. I…I just need an answer from you."
"For what question?" Akashi looked up at her.
Momoi took a deep breath. "Your father…he was part of the Kiseki Syndicate, wasn't he?" When Akashi didn't respond, she bit her lip and continued. "I-It came up, in my research. Your surname kept cropping up, your father and such. I'm not accusing you of anything but…" her hands curled into fists. "All I want to do is make sure that it's in the past now."
Akashi regarded her silently, his eyes not betraying a shred of emotion. Then he stood up from his seat and smiled. "You are very smart, Momoi-san. My father was accused on multiple occasions during my youth, but neither the police nor I have ever found evidence to convict him." He stepped around his desk and placed a hand on her shoulder.
Momoi swallowed.
"Sometimes, people can be in the wrong place at the wrong time," Akashi said coolly. "Rest assured, Momoi-san, I am not involved. Now, Chihiro, please show our guest out."
Kagami crouched low behind the dumpster, scrunching his nose when the smell of rotting waste hit him. This position was nostalgic, since just a few days ago he was hiding from a shooter behind a dumpster. No one would be shooting at him now. Hopefully.
It was what looked like a typical warehouse, one in a row of about half a dozen. This particular one had 'SHIZUKA PRINTING HOUSE' emblazoned on the side in stencilled white. The area was quiet, a ways off from the main road. The building was originally part of a printing press, and had been abandoned when the business either went bankrupt or moved further into Tokyo city centre. It had taken him a while to catch a bus and then walk all the way here. He was sure Riko would be on the way down and reaching soon, so he had to quickly scope the place and then get back to their temporary base.
He felt a guilty pang just thinking about Aomine, but he had to do this alone. This was his problem. The Kiseki…he had a bone to pick with them. Aomine had nothing to do with it.
There was a ladder on the side of one the buildings, and it rattled slightly as Kagami grabbed onto the rails and hauled himself up. The top of the ladder gave way onto a gangway that bordered the whole warehouse, providing a clear view into the operations below.
Kagami ducked instantly. There were people. Maybe two or three dozen, all milling about, moving wooden crates and backing up trucks. He took out his phone and snapped a few pictures. The number plates of the trucks, at least to the highest clarity he could capture them, and the men and women working on moving them. He couldn't see much detail from above, but it was clear they were transporting some kind of goods. And he had a good guess what kind they were.
Hara Kazuya was a simple man.
He liked chewing mint gum. He liked taking long walks on the beach. He liked money.
He did not like last minute orders.
But Hara Kazuya was a loyal man, at least to his boss.
"Two hours?" he blew a green bubble, and it popped loudly.
"Three, if Matsumoto manages to stall long enough," the voice on the other end was firm. "No trace is to remain. Move all the contraband to our backup location. You cannot be caught by Aida, and Matsumoto can only do so much."
"But Akashi…" Hara chewed a bit more. "Didn't Matsumoto do just fine with Aida ten years ago? Thanks to him, I wasn't caught back then either. What makes this time any different?"
"This isn't Aida Kagetora, it's his daughter," Akashi growled. "And this isn't the Kiseki of my father's time, it's mine. Now get your head out of 'ten years ago' and get moving."
Hara's eyes narrowed, not that it could be seen due to his low lying fringe. "Sure thing. See ya." He typed another number into his phone motioned to his men to speed up the process. Two hours was a bit much, but thankfully, they had already started moving their goods long before Akashi's call.
"Hello." The man who answered had a calm voice, unsettled by the fact that he was getting a call from one of the country's foremost drug dealers.
"Akashi just told me to move this shit to his backup location. But I'm still moving it to your location, yeah?"
"Of course, my plans haven't changed a bit," the man agreed. "Matsumoto also informed me of this new development. Akashi seems to be a little worried lately. That's good. It means he'll stuff up."
Hara grinned. "It's good to have you back, Boss. I fucking hate working for that brat, but unfortunately he's only half the idiot his old man was."
"Patience is a virtue, my dear friend," the man chuckled coldly. "Keep me posted."
"Sure thing, Boss."
Hara Kazuya was loyal to his boss.
But who ever said Akashi Seijurou was his boss in the first place?
Aomine groaned, the buzzing in his head irritating him.
Oh, no. That was his phone.
He blinked his eyes open, rolling onto his side and trying to regain his bearings. He felt like he'd been sleeping for a long time, even though he could see some sunlight filtering through the blinds.
Kagami closed the blinds for me, he thought with a smile. He also drugged me, he added with a small frown.
Aomine's phone wouldn't stop vibrating. His hand snaked into his pocket and he answered it.
"Hello…?" he mumbled.
"Thank god, I've been trying to call you for fifteen minutes!"
He'd know that voice anywhere. "What…whassup Chief?"
Riko paused. "Are you drunk?"
"Ah…" Aomine closed his eyes. "I don't think so…? Drugged maybe…" Ah no, don't get Kagami in trouble, you dumbass.
"What?" she sounded shocked. "Where's Kagami-kun? His phone is turned off!"
"H-he's here…totally…" Aomine sat up with a moan. He felt a little drowsy, but at least his limbs were working.
"He went off by himself, didn't he?" It was framed as a question, but didn't sound like one. Before Aomine could reject the notion, Riko sighed heavily. Her voice was resigned when she spoke. "I was afraid it would come to this. Ever since I told him about this operation, it's been bugging me. He's too involved, and we all know bringing our personal lives into our work will only cause trouble."
"Personal lives?" Aomine was more awake now. "What are you talking about?"
"Sorry, I was…kind of talking to myself," she muttered. "Meet me near Shuutoku General Hospital. Matsumoto is going to be in charge of this raid, and he wants us to regroup there first. Don't ask me why, he's the expert here. I'm going to keep trying to contact Kagami, maybe we can meet him right at the site. Let's hope for his own good he can follow those orders at least."
She disconnected and Aomine stared at his phone. Matsumoto? I feel like I've heard that name before… He shrugged. It was a fairly common name, and he was probably just imagining things. He got to his feet slowly and checked that he hadn't left anything behind.
He doubted he'd be coming back here any time soon.
Kagami had scoped all the other buildings in the area, but it seemed as though the first one was where all the activity was focused. He started making his way back, switching his phone back on to check the bus timetable. He didn't want to risk it going off and alerting his position during his recon.
He gawked at the screen in shock. 15 missed calls? Fuck. It's Chief.
He called back, biting his lip.
"Kagami-kun," Riko said instantly when she picked up. "Meet us at Shuutoku General Hospital. We're nearly there."
"Okay," he said simply, dreading her flat tone of voice.
He was there in less than thirty minutes, seeing the familiar police registered Mitsubishi and a couple of unrecognisable black vans parked on the road besides the building. Riko was leaning on her car and talking to another man, taller and older, with slightly tanned skin and very short hair.
Aomine was there too.
"Chief," Kagami nodded, pushing down the unease he felt in his gut.
Riko took a deep breath and turned around. "This is Matsumoto Itsuki, he's going to be leading the operation here. He's done it for years, and he worked alongside my father to try and bring down the original Kiseki."
Kagami nodded at the man.
"This is Kagami Taiga, one of our detectives. You've already met Aomine."
Matsumoto grunted. "We should get moving then," he said. "We're going to have to check each building there, section by section. Leave it to my men." He walked off to one of his cars, and Riko shot Kagami a silent look before following.
Kagami glanced at Aomine. "Aomine, I…"
"Don't worry about it, not right now," Aomine smiled at him. "There's…lots of things we don't know about each other. I think we need to come clean, but let's get these guys first, yeah?"
Kagami nodded, feeling slightly better. He grinned back. "Yeah."
It was empty. All of it.
They had started at the beginning of the line, and although Kagami had hinted that the building they were looking for was further in, Matsumoto had been adamant to search from top to bottom of every building they passed.
And by the time they got to the real one, there was nothing there. All those people, all those crates and trucks, gone.
Kagami felt the horror prickle his skin.
No no no no no.
"It was here. Right here!" he ran forwards, whipping his head this way and that, trying to find any trace, anything that would prove him right.
"My men report that everything is empty," Matsumoto said to Riko. She grit her teeth, cursing under her breath.
"I swear it," Kagami hissed. "I…I saw it! They must have moved on. I even took photos!" He flicked through his photo album hastily, but…they weren't there. The images he had taken not over two hours ago…they weren't there. As though they had been deleted. "This…this can't be right…"
"Kagami-kun, calm down," Riko pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's think about this logically. Assuming that…that you were right, that your information was right…then the only way they would have moved so quickly from here was if they were warned beforehand." She looked straight at him. "You didn't listen to me, did you?"
Kagami's hands balled into fists, and his eyes sparked with anger. "They didn't see me. Yes, I disobeyed your orders. Yes, I came here by myself. But they didn't see me. Of that, I am certain."
Riko stepped up to him, and her voice was low and sharp and scathing. "You drugged your partner. I should charge you for that. Aomine-kun didn't have to tell me directly," she added when his eyes widened. "But he should have. I'm a detective, Kagami-kun. I'm not stupid. But, lately, you have been. This…!" she waved around her. "This, I hope you realise, was one of our only leads. And it's gone. Only a few hours after you came here, against orders. Are you connecting the dots now?"
Matsumoto was observing silently as his men searched the clearly empty area, but Aomine stepped forwards.
"Chief, take it easy-"
"And you!" she turned on the darker skinned man. "You have been too lenient with him! I should split the two of you up, rather that partner you both. You just seem to be distraction after distraction and I can't…" her voice broke, and she rubbed her face with a hand. "We can't afford to compromise this case. It's important, and my father…he couldn't solve this problem, so now it's fallen onto me. We have to, for ourselves and the sake of everyone. I can't have anyone mess this up, especially someone who's so deep in his emotions that he can't think straight."
Kagami's mouth went dry. "W-what are you saying?"
"I don't want to do this, but you've left me no choice." Riko's eyes shone with hurt, and her words were strained.
Aomine stepped forwards. "Chief-"
Riko squared her shoulder and held out her hand towards Kagami. "Kagami Taiga, you are hereby suspended until further notice from all investigative authorities due to failure of following direct orders and emotional compromise."
Kagami stared up at his ceiling. It was white. Blank. Much like his thoughts.
He felt numb. He'd felt numb on the drive back in one of the black cars – their broken police vehicle had been towed – and he'd felt numb when he signed the papers, numb when he handed in his badge and service weapon. He'd heard Aomine argue with her, he'd heard Aomine yell at him to defend himself, but Riko hadn't been wrong.
He'd let his emotions get in the way. He'd done things he normally would never have even considered.
His phone buzzed.
20:34 Ahomine: Come on, talk to me. Or I'll come over.
Kagami closed his eyes and sighed, turning his phone off. He didn't really want to talk. He didn't want to discuss anything right now. What was he going to do now? Leave it to Aomine? Tell Aomine everything about his mother, his motivations?
Or would he continue investigating on his own, and risk landing in more trouble?
His landline starting ringing. It was probably Aomine, or Kuroko. They were probably calling his landline because he'd turned off his phone. Damn persistent bastards. And when did he ever give them that number? He barely even used that phone.
The ringing wouldn't stop, so he picked it up to disconnect when the caller ID made him pause.
He put it against his ear. "Tatsuya?"
"Oh, thank god you picked up. Your phone is off!" Himuro's voice was breathy, as though he had been running. "Well, whatever. Taiga, I need you to come right now. Something…something's going on at Yosen."
"Yosen?" Kagami sat up.
"Yeah, that new club I work at…look, I can't talk for long, but I'm sure you can get in here with your badge. Just…come in through the back or something, it's urgent."
"Uhh…" Kagami trailed off.
"I gotta go, but I'll see you soon. Please, Taiga. Bye."
Kagami didn't even have a proper chance to respond before the line disconnected. This was beyond strange. Himuro had sounded anxious, not exactly panicking but close to it.
"Fuck it," Kagami groaned, lifting his pillow and hooking his unregistered Glock on his waistband under his shirt. He shrugged on his jacket and grabbed his keys, but paused on his way out. He quickly grabbed a piece of paper and scribbled on it, before sticking it to the outside of his front door and bolting to his car.
Looked like the option was to start investigating, but maybe he didn't have to do it alone.
Comments are lifeblood :D
Read my aokaga drabbles on tumblr at theeventideabyss or see my other interests on my personal blog at thetranscendentabyss!