The Unceasing Path
Ch 23 - 知法犯法
Law Against Law - wherein there are conflicts even on the right side of the law
"It's nice, but I don't know..." Mamoru trailed off, turning this way and that to see himself in the mirror "Does this cummerbund make me look fat?"
Ami tilted her head. She had no idea how to answer that question. She wasn't sure if the cummerbund made Mamoru look fat, but she did think it made him look somewhat like a pirate.
"Ummm...no? It's fine. It looks good. Very swashbuckling. Swashbuckl-ly?"
"Ah! You hesitated! That's it! I'm going back to the black one. It's more understated am I right?"
"Yeah, sure? Good idea!" Ami flashed a quick thumbs up at Mamoru from where she sat outside the change room. "Seriously I'm not sure why you asked me to come with you today? I don't know the first thing about tuxedos."
"Moral support Ami-chan. I need moral support. Here. Take this please?" Mamoru passed the rejected red cummerbund over. "I love Motoki, but he...well, he takes this very seriously."
Ami took the cummerbund and folded it neatly ontop of the other rejected cummerbunds. She looked over at the far side of the boutique to see if Motoki was available for his opinion.
"So, he's the fashion sense, and I'm the moral support? Huzzah. Go team." Ami narrowed her eyes, tracking Motoki's high-energy puttering from across the room. "What the...? Is he sorting the bowties by size? "
"By material actually. He was talking up a storm about velvet ties on the way here. Said something about them "feeling right"? I'm not sure what he meant by that."
"I did read an article the other day about how velvet ties tend to be warmer than the more-expected silk tie is? I assume they meant that in a subjective aesthetic sense, and not that this tiny bit of fabric would keep you physically warmer. But maybe it does? I don't know."
Mamoru shrugged. "You know I've never done this before right?"
"Pfft. You've never worn a tuxedo?" Ami scoffed. The very idea of it.
"No! This! All of this! Shopping, fittings, venue booking, flowers, guest lists, receptions. It's so... overwhelming to be honest." Mamoru laughed, a soft smile coming to his face as the laugh died away. "It's all worth it, but yeah. Thanks for being here. It's nice to have someone sane in the room to talk to and...I'm really glad you're here. This wedding has been a long time coming."
"Aww. Stoppit. I'm getting all emotional now. You're going to make me cry. And here I was about to suggest that cute little tuxedo onesie pajama set in the window display." Ami dabbed at her eyes. "Oh no. Now I'm actually crying. Mamoru-san!"
"Weddings are more than the union of two connected hearts. It is the celebration and sharing of that miracle of love with the precious people in your life."
Ami bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud. "I can't tell if you're being serious anymore." She stared into Mamoru's face, searching his clear blue eyes for clues. She found none whatsoever until Mamoru burst out laughing.
"Come on! You don't actually think I sound like that do you? That was terrible!"
"Mamoru-san! Don't tease! You really got me. Your poker face has come a long way."
Mamoru shrugged, then shrugged again to see how the tuxedo jacket he trying on affected his movements. "Maybe I wasn't entirely joking. I did mean what I said, even if I didn't have to be such a cheeseball about it."
Ami felt herself getting misty-eyed again.
"You know that's why we all love you right? Underneath that cool exterior, you're a biggest, goofiest, softie on earth. I'm so happy that you and Usagi found each other. Don't ever change ok? Promise? Or else."
"Or else what? You're going to shoot me in the face again?" Mamoru ducked away from Ami's hasty smack on the arm and her squeaked "yes". "Oh speaking of! I'd been meaning to ask you something. In your Hong Kong story, Usagi and I don't even know each other? May I ask what's going on with that? Inquiring minds need to know."
"What?! Seriously?" Ami cringed. "Et tu Mamoru-san? How did you even hear about this?"
"I heard it from Usagi, who heard it from Rei, who heard it from Minako who heard it -"
"Who heard it from Mako. Of course..." Ami blushed. She was embarrassed yes, but knowing that Makoto had thought highly enough of her little story that she was sharing it gave her a warm feeling inside.
"So, the question remains Ami-chan. Usagi, me...not together?" Mamoru held his hands out in the universal gesture of "what the hell". Ami mirrored his motions back at him, lifting her hands in the universal gesture of "sorry, not sorry".
"You're the bad guy! I can't have have Usagi dating the bad guy now can I? She's too good for that."
"Alright. Alright. Fair enough, But why am I the villain?"
"Ex post facto decision Mamoru-san. I'd already shot you in the face, remember? You had to deserve it somehow, otherwise, it'd be my fault, and that wouldn't have made for a very good story now would it?"
"So, what kind of villain am I? I'm still a police chief right? Maybe I'm a complex lawful evil "end-justifies-the-means" kind of guy?" Mamoru cackled maniacally testing out his evil side. "Maybe I'm more of a dastardly mustache twirling plotting evil guy? Ooo! Can you give me a mustache in your story? I've always wanted one."
Ami pictured Mamoru with a mustache and quickly shook her head. "Uhhhh...how 'bout you let me handle the character development. I'll make you...less hokey than that. I promise."
[Seven Days Later, Chiba's Office]
"Chief Superintendent! Who is this vigilante? Do you have any suspects?"
"Is the vigilante to be a threat to the public at large?"
"Do you condone the actions of this vigilante?"
"Will there be another attack tomorrow?"
"How long before you catch this lunatic?"
Another day, another humiliating press conference. Another day where he had to stand up on that podium and declare how impotent he was before the public at large. Mamoru slammed the door to his office in frustration. He needed some privacy right now. He thought he would get some peace after disposing of Artemis Katze, but no. Things had just gone from bad, to worse, to "why god, do you hate me so?".
Mamoru took a deep breath, setting down in his office chair to just think for a moment.
Constable Kino was KIA, effectively blinding him to what was going on in the streets and worst of all, he still didn't know for sure who had wiretapped his office. Everyday he felt like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. It was unbearable. So far, no one had claimed responsibility. No one had come forward to blackmail or arrest him. That was great, but the uncertainty was driving him crazy.
There was all that, and now, there was now this. The Vigilante. What the hell was Mizuno doing?
4 attacks over the past 7 days, each of them escalating in violence and spectacle. Everyone was talking about it. The media was in a frenzy right now. Stories about the "the Vigilante of Hong Kong", "The Triad Terror", "The Gang Buster" were on every news station. Some nuts were even calling her a hero – taking on the crime syndicates that the police couldn't handle. Mamoru ground his teeth. The video from yesterday's incident had gone viral worldwide. He was getting calls from news agencies as far away as Canada and the United States. Who wouldn't want to watch some guy dangling off a bamboo scaffolding 30 stories high recanting his Triad oaths right? That sick fuck had streamed it online in real time.
This was all getting out of hand.
As chief of the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau of the HKPD, the commissioner had placed him in charge of this shitstorm. It was ironic. Mamoru would have laughed if it weren't so serious. He knew who exactly the vigilante was, but he couldn't admit it, much less arrest her. If he did, there would be no way to stop Mizuno from being questioned. If Mizuno were questioned, then maybe she'd talk and maybe, just maybe, she knew enough to connect him to Artemis Katze.
Mamoru looked at the situation, turning it about in his head to access it from all angles.
Even if she didn't know about Katze, she knew the truth of what happened all those years ago: the Bo Foy Ice Factory Massacre. If Mizuno confessed to that, as she probably would, then it wouldn't take long for someone to figure out that he had deliberately misled the investigation to cover up the fact hat it was his officer who'd snapped and committed the crime. There would be questions as to why he'd sent her back out into the field. Every bust he had made since that night would come under review... and once again, if someone were to look closely, would there be anything to link him back to Artemis Katze and the HUng Fa Boys?
Any way he looked at it, Mizuno was a liability. She knew too much. Sure, in the court of law, any half-way decent lawyer would be able to paint Mizuno as an unreliable witness, but that didn't matter. His career would be over. He might be able to avoid jail but that was it. That was the silver lining; the best case scenario.
Unacceptable.
He was the Chief of a high profile HKPD bureau. He was on track to be the commissioner of the entire HKPD, and one day, he could be more. It wasn't unprecedented for the police commissioner to make the jump to politics. There was the Legislative Council. The Executive. The Secretary of Security. No. He worked too hard to get here to have a degenerate like Mizuno ruin everything. Mamoru cursed. What was he thinking when he recruited Mizuno in the first place? In retrospect, he should have seen this coming. Mizuno's always had a few lines in her brain crossed and fused in the wrong order. Looks like she's finally snapped and gone rogue. Mamoru flipped through the "Vigilante" case files. It was strange. Her campaign of terror was hitting gangsters from every major Triad family - including her own Yuet To Tong. It was strange, but not without precedent. Actually, it made sense. There would be a power vacuum in the wake of Luna Miao's assassination. Mizuno must be making some kind of play in that regard. Mamoru nodded. The story tracks. Mizuno must still have friends in the Yuet To Tong. She's either supporting someone, or being supported by someone. No way anyone would be crazy enough to take on the entire Hong Kong triad system by themselves would they?
Mamoru smacked himself on the forehead. It was Mizuno. Anything was possible.
How was she even alive anyways? Things would been so much easier if she had died like she was supposed to. Did Kino give him bad intel? That was unlikely, the way she was crying and shit. She had even been bugging him about arranging some kind of police memorial or something for Mizuno.
Ah well, at least she didn't live to see this. That was all in the past anyhow. The important thing now was the future.
Mamoru considered the facts. Was there a way he could fix this? He needed the vigilante stopped, and Mizuno needed to be silenced. Maybe the solution to both problems was one and the same? Those were very complimentary goals. He smiled. A plan was starting to take shape. It was risky, but the odds were in his favour. Mizuno had enemies a-plenty. If they knew who she was and where to find her, nature would take its course as it did...and if Mizuno was being protected by her Yuet To Tong buddies, well, he could scorch the earth around her easily. Heck, this was perfect. This was two birds – three – with one stone. When the quarry goes to ground, leave them no ground to go to. It would involves some risk on his part, but yes, it was an aceptable risk given the payoff. After all the trouble the triads have given him, it was fitting that he use the Triad clans to take care of this dirty business. Besides, he was doing everyone a favour.
He could see tomorrow's headlines now. "Rogue HKPD Officer Mizuno Ami wanted for murder of industrialist Artemis Katze".
Now then, which station should he leak this juicy tidbit to?
[ICAC Safehouse. Three nights later.]
Being in witness protection, for lack of a better word, sucked.
If there were a more appropriate word, it would be a word that could describe how useless she felt. It would need to factor in the ever-present sense of anxiety that came with having armed guards watch her every move. Armed guards who were much too professional to talk to their protectee to boot. There was also the loss of her personal freedom. Makoto missed being able to walk to the cafe down the street for her morning milk tea. She missed the produce lady in the market, who always saved the biggest eggs just for her and, confusing as it was, she missed card nights at Haruka's place with the rest of the boys.
"Safehouse" was just a nicer way of saying "jail".
To be honest, Makoto didn't remember jail being this difficult. Was it really necessary for ICAC to cut her off from all forms of communication? She only had a burner phone, and the only number it could contact besides emergency services was Katarina's. Ok, phones she could kind of get, but cutting her off from the internet was little freaking much. She wasn't dumb enough to log onto her own accounts now that she was "dead" and it wasn't like there was a triad assassin out there who could figure out who she was while she as browsing, run a reverse IP tracer ping or whatever, track down the location of the safehouse and come kill her.
At least in jail, there was stuff to do, and people to talk to. Up here, in this tastefully modern yet soulless house in the hills, there was nothing. Just hours upon hours of sitting on her hands waiting for Katarina to get her shit together so they could finally go after Chief Chiba.
Makoto sighed. Hell, Katarina didn't even give her a T.V. to prevent a future hypothetical lawyer arguing that her testimony was influenced by news media or whatever.
Goddamit. It was little wonder that Ami had handpicked Katarina for this case. They were peas from the same pod - the same meticulous, paranoid, pod.
Being in witness protection really, really sucked.
The only concession that Katraina gave her, after hours and hours of pleading, was access to a police scanner. Listening to other people do the heavy lifting was aggravating, but it was better than nothing. Makoto spent most of her time sitting by the one way radio, listening and taking notes on anything triad related. She took down names and associations, organizing her notes on the wall to help her get a clearer picture of what was happening in the streets.
By the gods, there was so much going on that she was running out of space.
Beyond the ordinary, daily issues that plague a city the size of Hong Kong, most of the chatter was about that weird vigilante. That was some crazy shit, but that was just one lone nutball. Behind the theatrics, something more dangerous was underfoot. Fires, vandalism, random jumpings, full on street rumbles. Makoto recognized it for what it was: turf wars. There had been a radical shift in the power balance of Hong Kong's underworld over the past few weeks. The Yuet To Tong had fallen apart and all sorts of players had come out of the woodwork to pick through the remains.
"Power abhors a vacuum" like Ami used to always say...
Makoto growled, and turned back to her task. It wouldn't do to get distracted. This wasn't much, but it was better than doing nothing. She was going to give it her best, even if her best wasn't what she wanted it to be right now.
"Uhh...Hello? Dispatch, this is Lo Wu prison, responding to APB on suspect wanted for those vigilante assaults. Am I doing this right?"
"Go ahead, Lo Wu prison. What's your situation? Over."
"Oh right! Over!...Oh shit. No, not over. I mean, yeah. I ahhh...have visual on a suspect matching the priority one APB issued by the Organized Crime and Triad Bureau...uhhh...over."
"You're certain Lo Wu? Over."
"Of course I'm sure! Female, Blue hair, blue eyes, approximately 152 cm. I'm looking at her right now! I can see that big ass scar on her face and everything!"
Makoto's head snapped up. That description sounded awfully familiar. The bored tone of the radio dispatch operator took on a more urgent tone as well.
"Are you in a secure location Lo Wu?"
"Yeah. I'm good. I'm up in the guard tower a few clicks away. I'm watching through binoculars and uhhh... oh shit. A car just pulled up. Blue sports car. A whoa...a Ferrari. Daaaaaamn. Is that a Testarossa? It's gorgeous. Oh yeah. Licence plate HT 9394. "
"Contacting the Triad Bureau now. Stay on the line Lo Wu. Maintain visual. Await further instruction. Dispatch out."
Makoto stayed on the line, anxious and heartsick. She knew that licence plate. That was one of Haruka's cars. She didn't want to listen to Haruka getting arrested, but if Haruka was dumb enough to be involved with someone like that vigilante, then there was nothing that could be done to protect her.
And the vigilante...blue hair, blue eyes. 152 cm. Scar...it couldn't be...
Could it?
A.N.
It totally could be. You know it, I know it, and I guess Mako will too. But first, Ch 24 : 與敵同行!
brycelozier - :D I have made a timeline for the Drifter Cinematic Universe (the other DCU)!
I pride myself on that the timeline actually does flow. Hey, 5 Years and a Day - when you have a fic where the frame device is literally calendar days, one is forced to do the math. The description of the weather for the most part, should accurately reflect time passing. If we do use the original air date of the classic anime as the launch point, then yeah, The Unceasing Path does end up being circa 2008. There are three anachronisms I can think of, one event twhere the timeline can be explained in-universe, but requires significant suspension of disbelief, and two major points on the timeline that introduce enough variability to make the whole thing a wibblely wobblely blob.
As to the the desire to hug Ami, forehead kisses and tell her everything gon' be ok? I agree. Heartbreaking yes, but damn entertaining to watch. It's funny. I can almost read this story from a reader's perspective thanks to the extra fourth wall in there. Sometimes I catch myself going "Ami! No! You're a much better person than you give yourself credit for!" - then I remember that I'm the author and I'm like... yeah...good job Drift. Good job *satisfied nod*.
Cheers,
-Drift
Up Next:
Ch 24 : 與敵同行
Walking With the Enemy - wherein the distant past catches up with Haruka
well, that was redundant...