Chapter 43: Hoshino Ai is Kidnapped
A week had passed by after their talk about Eren and Ai decided to get some fresh air and move around for a bit. She felt so cooped up in the mansion and decided that it was time for her and her children to stretch their legs a bit and do something since the Nakano-Kai were now completely gone.
Well, not children, since Aqua was saying he was feeling too tired after taking some of his medication. So, Ai let him stay at the mansion and rest up while her and Ruby had a little mother and daughter time together. Ruby was thrilled of course since she was always so jealous of her time with Ai.
With her ballcap and glasses, Ai was once again disguised in public. Ruby didn't really need one, but she got her a little baseball cap as well to fit with her cute little dress and leggings. It contrasted well to Ai's calf length slacks, T-shirt, and suit jacket. She wanted to look professional a bit.
It was also early in the morning since Ai wanted to make sure she went out when there were few people. Before, getting recognized as an idol could get her swarmed by fans. Now, getting spotted could result in a confrontation that she had no interest of dealing with. So, she made sure she went out when there was almost no one on the streets and stayed away from the busiest areas.
It felt good to walk around again, especially with her daughter.
"Finally, you come out of hiding." Ai turned as she heard a familiar voice.
"H-hello?" She asked.
Right out of an alleyway was the Russian man that Eren worked with, Sergei she remembered. The man who was apparently wanted by the Naicho intelligence office for the past two decades.
"Do you have any idea how much trouble you are to meet up with? This has been a pain to fake delays for two weeks." He said in an annoyed tone.
Ai started to crouch down in order to pick up Ruby and run, not trusting herself or her daughter to be around this criminal. Before she could though, Sergei stepped forward and practically wall slammed her next to a small white car. With one hand blocking her avenue of escape, she was practically trapped by the large Russian man.
"Please don't run, it would only get difficult if you did." He said.
"If you don't leave me alone, I'll scream for help." Ai said, trying to sound intimidating but failing.
"I wouldn't recommend that." Sergei said, opening his trench coat and showing something under his shoulder.
Ai gasped in surprise. Under his armpit, in a holster, was a pistol of some kind. Ai knew nothing of guns, but she knew that he had a pistol of some kind and was too close for Ai to escape.
"M-mama." Ruby said in a small and scared voice. She hugged Ai's leg, terrified of the large man and unsure of what to do.
"Get in the car." He said, opening the rear door and motioning for her to get inside.
"Please, let my daughter go." She said.
"No, it's not good to leave a kid alone on the street, now get in." He said forcefully.
"If you shoot me, the cops will come." Ai tried one last time to persuade the man.
"They've tried for twenty years; I doubt they'll be able to." He chuckled. "Now, get in."
Ai had no choice. Even if she couldn't escape the cops, she couldn't risk getting on his bad side since he could easily shoot her or her daughter. Ai got into the back seat with Ruby, who was whimpering from the fear since they were getting kidnapped.
After Sergei closed the door and walked around to the driver side, Ai tried to open the door but it wouldn't open.
"Child lock." Sergei said as he got into the drivers seat. "You won't be able to get out before I have time to react." He said, starting the car and driving away from where he took her.
Ai was now properly terrified. She had no idea what to do. She couldn't fight this man or escape without putting her life or her daughters in danger.
"M-mama... what's going on?" Ruby asked.
"It's ok, we'll be ok." Ai said.
Ai looked out the window, thinking that she could try signal-
"Don't think about it." Sergei said, looking at her through the rear-view mirror.
"Please, what do you want with us?" Ai asked.
"Are you asking why an international criminal is kidnapping someone?" Sergei chuckled.
Ai didn't know what to say. She had ideas and none of them seemed good.
"I'm hungry, you and the little one like McDonalds, right?" He asked.
What? What kind of question was that to someone you just recently kidnapped?
"S-sure?"Ai said, unsure of what he was getting at.
"There's nice one nearby, we can get some food. Dine in?" He asked.
Dine in... as in go into the store where other people-
"And if you try to signal other people while we're inside, I'll shoot you." He said, though his tone wasn't threatening at all.
"What do you want?" Ai asked, getting frustrated now.
"I'm thinking a quarter pounder with fries." He said. "Maybe coke too."
"That's not-"
"Little one like chicken nuggets? All kids like chicken nuggets." He said.
Sergei pulled up to the parking lot, got out of the car, opened Ai's door, and escorted her and Ruby into the McDonalds. He was too close for Ai to try and escape, not to mention she was holding Ruby's hand, and it would waste too much time picking her up and running before he could react.
When he got to the front of the line, the girl at the register held her arms up in an X position to Sergei.
"No Engish." She said in very broken English.
"First off." Sergei said in his normal accented Japanese, taking the girl by surprise. "I speak Japanese well enough to be understood. Second, English is my third language. My mother language is Russian, so I appreciate it if you would kindly take my order."
The woman bowed and apologized, not expecting him to know Japanese so well.
"Anyway, I'll get a Quarter Pounder with large fries and coke. No salt on the fries, but can I get a packet of salt on the side. The girl will take a... what do you want?" He turned to Ai.
She was seriously confused... is this a kidnapping or a poor attempt at a dinner date?
"Are you watching weight or anything, your belly is looking a bit bigger." If Ai wasn't terrified for her life, she'd actually be offended. "Not sure? Ok, she'll have kids meal cheeseburger with water. Little one will have chicken nuggets. You still do the toy thing?" He asked.
"We haven't done that in years sir." She said.
"Damn, kid would like a toy." He said. "Oh well, thank you."
Sergei escorted Ai over to a booth away from any other customers, though there were few in the store this early.
"I do love how these serves lunch 24/7." He said. "I hate the breakfast. You know, there is a fascinating thing about McDonalds that not a lot of people know. Do you want to know?"
"Do I have a choice?" Ai asked, Ruby was holding onto her while she sat down.
"No." Sergei said. "Ok, so McDonalds is the very first fast food store to incorporate a drive through. It started in a town called Sierra Vista in the US State of Arizona. Do you know why they did?"
Ai didn't reply, still scared and very confused.
"I'll tell you, it's because in Sierra Vista is a US Army base called Fort Huachuca, it's an Army base where they train Military Intelligence Soldiers. Now, back in the day, Soldiers were not allowed to be off base in uniform. They could drive off base but could not leave their cars while in uniform. Don't ask me why." He chuckled.
"So, what McDonalds did was they put a window and a register on the side of their building, so Soldiers during lunch time didn't have to leave their car. Not only did it let them eat without changing out of uniform, it made it even faster to get your food. Soon, other McDonalds adopted this and other fast food industries adopted it as well. Isn't that amazing?"
"Ok..." Ai said. "Why is this relevant?"
"It's not, just making small talk. You seem very stressed right now."
Of course she's stressed! She's getting kidnapped!
"Oh, food is ready. Stay here or I'll shoot you." He chuckled as he went up to get the food.
After bringing the tray back Sergei took his unsalted fries, opened the packet of salt, and poured it on the fries.
Why did he order no salt if-
"It's because if you order no salt, they have to make a fresh batch, meaning you always get hot fries." How does he know what she's thinking? "So I get salt on the side to enjoy hot and crunchy fries."
"That's kind of rude to the workers." Ai said.
"Yes, because being rude is the worst crime I've committed today." He laughed.
Ai couldn't argue with that.
Sergei started eating his burger and fries as if it was the best thing he's ever tasted. He seemed like he was having a good time, which was odd considering Ai was terrified along with Ruby.
"You're not eating." Sergei said with a full mouth. "Don't like it, want me to get you another one?"
"What is this about!" Ai yelled, though in a low voice.
She was getting upset at being jerked around like this. First, he kidnaps her at gunpoint and then takes her and Ruby out to get food. What was wrong with this guy?
"Just wanted to talk about Eren honestly." He said. "I can see the depression is hitting you hard. You need to be careful so you don't gain weight."
Was the baby bump that noticeable? Ai felt a little self-conscious about that.
"You're not offended." He said, finishing the burger. "That's weird, normally-" Wait... "Oh shit, you're pregnant." He realized.
"Y-yes..." Ai confirmed, not sure where this line of conversation would go.
"Huh, congrats I guess." He said. "I just kidnapped Eren's baby mother... I hope he never finds out." He said to himself.
"Why do you want to talk about Eren?" Ai asked.
"I figured there was some misunderstanding between you two and I just figured you two should talk to each other." Sergei said. "Eren is kind of broken up about it and isn't keen on approaching you because of how scared you were."
He was broken up about what happened? He was really that upset?
"He doesn't show it, but right now he wants to get smuggled out of the country and go climb a mountain or something." Sergei said.
Ai giggled a bit at that, thinking it was kind of funny that he would do that when he was upset after what they talked about before.
"I've been making up delays for two weeks now since I've been trying to get at you. But the Shinomiya manor is impenetrable. He's actually getting frustrated and it's becoming a hazard to my health." Sergei chuckled.
"There's not much to talk about." Ai said. "Even if we did see each other, what would it accomplish? He's still a wanted man."
"Yea, and to be honest, a lot of it is my fault." Sergei said.
"Kaguya said you got him into crime." Ai said.
"How does she know?" Sergei asked. "Eh, doesn't matter. But yes, I did. He was stupid and went too deep, but I did give him his first job."
"So, what are you going to say? That I should feel bad about it? Because I do. I do feel bad. We all talked about it, and I feel terrible about what happened to him. We all did, even if some of them didn't agree with him."
"I'm not here to give you a pity party moment." Sergei said. "I'm here to give you perspective on who he is as a criminal and as a desperate man. From the lense of someone who went through the same thing." Sergei said.
"Eren said he was a child soldier." Ai said.
"Really, he didn't tell me. Makes sense since he'd trust you more than me." Sergei chuckled. "Yes, Eren fought in a war."
"Who was he with?" Ai asked.
"No idea, he keeps a lot of his past hidden. To be honest, you probably know more about his past than me." He said. "Eren did some bad things and made some tough choices because if he didn't, he'd die. When I served the Soviets in the Afghan War, if my commander ordered me to kill a bunch of innocent villagers, I did it. If I didn't, he'd kill me. So, I prioritized my life over the lives of others."
"Isn't that illegal?" Ai asked.
"Even by Russian laws, yes it was illegal. But who was going to do anything about it? No one. The west didn't care, and my Commander was competent enough to not get in trouble. Little Ryadovoy Sergei... that's a private by the way, wasn't important enough to even say no. Do I regret what I did, sometimes. But I'd be dead if I didn't."
"I see." Ai said.
"I became an Officer over the course of the war, and when I became Major, I was stuck in logistics. Basically, a dead end for our career. So, I sold surplus stuff illegally, so I didn't starve. I stole my own subordinates pay and when the Soviet Union collapsed, I was on the run because they were looking for scapegoats. I was not a high enough rank to survive, so I fled."
"Is that how you ended up in Japan?" Ai asked.
"I did some smuggling jobs between Vladivostok and Japan, which eventually let me make my own businesses in the smuggling industry. This was into the ninties by this point. I met a beautiful Japanese woman too and fell in love. Even had a son with her."
It's funny, Ai was starting to see a connection here.
"What happened?" Ai asked.
"She found out, and well, now I'm single." Sergei chuckled. "You know, I imagine my son would be about your age now." He said.
"So what are you suggesting?" Ai asked. "Should I put myself and my children at risk for love? Try to make it work when the police are hunting him and Yakuza are targeting me in order to manipulate him?"
"Honestly, my opinion? I'd say forget about him and move on with your life." He said with a chuckle.
Seriously? That's his advice? He kidnapped her to tell her that?
"So, that's what I should do?" Ai asked.
"I don't know. I'm not here to tell you what you should or shouldn't do." Sergei said. "I'm here to give you perspective. Perspective that maybe your friends can't give because they don't understand desperation or having to do bad things to survive. How even though sometimes we're forced to do bad things, doesn't inherently make people bad. Do you think some money trouble can compare to starving in a cold Russian winter?"
"I guess not." Ai said.
"When my love found out, we actually talked about it. We met up over a McDonalds meal and had a very long talk about what we should do. In the end, we both agreed we should stay apart so that not only would she be safe, but so will our son. While I'll admit it broke me up inside, we came to an understanding. A man's job is to protect his woman and child, and sometimes that means staying away."
"So stay or forget about him. I don't know what to do." Ai said.
"What I'd say, is do what I did. Talk with him. Decide if you both want to prioritize you and your children's safety or to pursue love no matter the challenges. Even if it ends things between you two, at least discussing it can give you both closure and make it easier to move on. Or maybe you decide that you love each other so much that the risk is worth it. I can't tell you; it all depends on what you two decide together."
Ai took a single fry from Sergei's meal and took a bite out of it, trying so hard to think about what she should do.
"You know, when he first talked about you, he tried so much to say how he wished you would leave him alone. How he found you innocent and believed you to be a good woman. How he wished nothing more for you to stay away so you could be safe and happy away from him." Sergei said.
"He said that?" Ai asked.
"I think early on, he began to fall for you. But he tried so hard to push you away because there haven't been any safe or calm moments in his life. He was scared of something happening to you and your children. And I have no doubt that he'd kill an entire city to keep you and your children safe."
Ai giggled for a moment when she noticed that Ruby finished her chicken nuggets. Even though they were kidnapped, it didn't stop her from wanting to eat delicious food.
"Anyway, you should go home. Want me to take you back?" Sergei asked.
"Do I have a choice?" Ai asked.
"This time, Da." He nodded. "I'm too old to be on a date with someone like you. I prefer prostitutes at the red light district."
Ai scrambled to cover Ruby's ears before she heard this old man brag about engaging in prostitution. What was wrong with this guy?
"Wait, all that and you threatened to shoot me?" Ai asked, confused as to why he would threaten to kill her only to give her advice.
"I was lying." Sergei laughed. "I doubt you would have accepted a normal invitation to talk. So, I had to get creative. Anyway, I'll tell Eren that you want to talk."
She actually hated this guy.
"Ok." Ai nodded. "Also, I think I'd rather walk. I really don't trust you."
"I'd actually be offended if you did trust me." Sergei laughed. "Have a nice day."
That was so weird, Ai thought to herself. She picked up Ruby and walked out, who had calmed down after she realized Sergei wouldn't hurt them.
"Does this mean Eren could still be our papa?" Ruby asked.
"I don't know Ruby-Chan." Ai said honestly.
Regardless, she needed to talk with Eren.
One Day Later
"According to recent reports, it has been confirmed that Hoshino Ai, the former star of the controversial group B-Komachi, has been reported missing as of yesterday. Her manager, Saitou Ichigo, has filed a police report after she failed to return to her address, which has not been released due to the recent controversy."
"Many former fans of the twenty-year-old idol have taken to social media, stating that it was likely the Akuma no Ko, Eren Yeager who kidnapped her after being discovered. It is assumed that he stalked her and kidnapped her after she rejected him upon learning of his criminal affiliations."
"At this time, the police have not released a statement and are currently investigating the situation. Until we have more information we will attempt to keep the people of Tokyo up to date."
"You look upset." Sergei said as Eren turned the TV off.
"That bastard!" Eren growled out loud. "I should have known he'd take Ai."
"Looks like it." Sergei said.
"How'd he even get her?" Eren asked.
"I may have contacted her." Sergei said.
"What!?" Eren asked. "I asked you to stay away from her!"
"And you're getting too damned despressed over her!" Sergei yelled back. "I figured it would be good if you two could at least talk instead of moping around like a bunch of teenagers!"
"And now Yoshida has Ai!" Eren yelled back.
"Probably little blonde girl too, since she was with Ai." Sergei mentioned.
"Ruby too?" Eren asked.
"Yea, and her unborn child too." Sergei said.
.
.
.
"Oh shit, you didn't know?" Sergei asked.
"No... no I didn't." Eren said, in a state of shock.
She was pregnant? That meant that she was with child, his child. Eren's second child. Another child he was going to abandon because of his choices.
"We'll figure this out." Sergei said. "I'll find her, and we do another rescue operation. Get her and children, both living and soon to be living to safety."
Eren sat down on the couch in his little makeshift apartment in the warehouse. His mind racing at what was going on. He was completely unsure of what he was going to do, but he had a few ideas.
Suddenly, his phone started to ring. He took it and looked at the number. He recognized it, it was Yoshida.
"Answer it." Sergei said.
Eren hit accept and put the phone on speaker.
Ai was trapped in a small room for the past few hours with Ruby. It was a relatively nice room, though with large and heavy wooden doors that only had handles on the outside of it. There was a nice red couch and a bookshelf with various different stories for entertainment, but she wasn't focused on that.
The last thing she remembered was leaving the McDonalds and then it was a blur. She was attacked, she thinks, and kidnapped a second time in a single day. After waking up, she and Ruby were trapped in this room.
"Mama, I'm getting tired of being taken." Ruby said.
Ai would have laughed at that if she wasn't so terrified right now.
"Don't worry Ruby-Chan, I'm sure the police are looking for us right now." Ai said.
"I wish Eren was still here, he always saved us." Ruby whined.
Yea, he did.
Suddenly, the door opened and a man in a black suit and a small gut walked it. He was older, maybe on his forties if she had to guess, but he looked intimidating and important.
"W-who are you?" Ai asked.
"You can call me Yoshida." The man said.
Yoshida, the crime boss of the largest gang in Tokyo? The man who employed Eren?
"Please, sit down. We have some things to discuss." Yoshida said.
Ai picked Ruby up in her arms and sat down on the couch while Yoshida got a chair and sat across from her. He didn't have any guards with him, though Ai knew that was because she could never hope to win in a fight against him.
"I-if you're trying t-to leverage m-me against Eren it won't work. We b-broke up." Ai said, hoping to convince him to release her. She knew it was pointless though.
"Leverage? Oh, we're long past that." Yoshida chuckled. "Actually, I was hoping to only get you. The kids would have been leverage, but I guess the boy will be the only thing. You and your daughter will be his punishment."
Ruby whined at that, burying her head in Ai's shoulder as she held her.
"Punishment... for what?" Ai asked.
"You see, when Shinomiya escaped, I didn't think too much on it. Though it made things harder, she still kept that narrative that the Nakano-Kai took her, so I let it go at the time. Even though Eren was the one to free her."
How does he know about that? Kaguya said Eren kept it a secret.
"Tell me girl, do you and Eren believe I am stupid? Believe that after decades of leading the most powerful Yakuza group in the Kanto Region, that I could fall for such a pitiful lie?" He asked.
"I never kne-"
Ai was cut off as Yoshida backhanded her, causing Ruby to cry as Ai fell to her side on the couch.
"You know, it's strange. After she escaped, you and Kaguya became such good friends. She stayed at your apartment, and she gave you shelter in her mansion. But I could calk that up to that one time you met her when your son ran away."
How does he know that!? How long has he been watching her!? Ai was beginning to feel terrified and creeped out.
"Then there was that boy, Shirogane. The little class president at that rich kid academy. Who Eren visited frequently before Shinomiya escaped. I have his face on our CCTV cameras. So odd that someone Eren began to meet with suddenly had the courage and knowhow to save a girl from the Yakuza."
"But you want to know the thing that really sinched it. The thing that really clued me in on the fact that Eren saved her? Tell me, what Japanese police officer rushes into a shootout alone? A single Special Assault Officer assaults a position? I know Shinomiya, the patriarch Shinomiya. He'd send in a private army if he knew his daughter was there. When you put all three of these together, it's pretty damn obvious."
Ai stayed on her side on the couch, her face still stinging and desperately holding onto Ruby. She was terrified.
"So... leverage? No, you're no longer leverage. You're a punishment."
"W-what are you going to do?" Ai asked.
"Believe it or not, you're in luck." He said.
"L-luck?" Ai asked.
"You're very valuable. And I have a buyer for you. But let's make sure Eren is in the loop too."
Yoshida took out his phone and dialed a number that she assumed was Eren's. After a moment, Eren icked up and Yoshida put it on speaker.
For a moment, there was silence. Ai could hear a gentle breathing coming from the phone, so she knew Eren was listening. She thought about calling out for help, but it was pointless. She was trapped.
"Eren, I wanted to talk. How are you?"
Silence.
"You know, after saving the Shinomiya girl, I was willing to let that go since it didn't negatively impact me. But your insubordination is getting on my nerves. I'm sure you know that I have the washed-up idol and her daughter. Truthfully, I didn't intend to get her daughter, but can't let her go now."
"So, she will act as your punishment. I found a buyer for her. Don't worry, it'll actually be a merciful fate. Ever heard of North Korea?"
North Korea!? He was going to sell her and Ruby to North Korea?
"Interesting thing, they typically kidnap Japanese animators to help on their propaganda films. Actually, they're planning to start their own idol industry. Now, they could do it from scratch, but they're interested in recruiting some former talent. And what better talent than Ai of the now defunct B-Komachi?"
"Now, the first few weeks may be though on her and the little one. North Korea typically re-educates their guests, which can get pretty violent. But once she is re-educated, she'll live the life of a proper celebrity. She'll even get her own career back. She'll live a life of luxury and even able to continue the career she loves so much. Isn't that great Ai?" He turned to her.
"You and your daughter will get to be the most famous idols in an entire country. Think of it, North Korean people are so hungry many resort to cannibalism. You'll give love and hope to a destitute people. I'd say they deserve it more than Japanese fans. Of course, all your songs will be propaganda, but who cares, right? As long as your spreading love and hope. You'll even learn a new language. Hangul is very easy to learn from what I understand."
"Now, Eren." He went back to the phone. "The boy, her son, is now the leverage. I can think of worse fates for him. But as for Ai and the daughter, you won't have to worry. They'll be safe and even rich in North Korea. So think of it as a merciful punishment."
There was silence after that. Ai wondered what Eren would say. She could tell Yoshida expected anger, sadness, begging, or anything normal. After all, Eren was one man against a Yakuza group that numbered in the thousands.
What could he possibly do to save her?
"I told you that if you ever used her against me, I'd show you why I was called the Devil of Paradis." Eren said calmly. "What happens next is on you."
Eren hung up.
Ai looked up at Yoshida's face. His smug grin was gone, replaced with... confusion? He looked like he saw something that wasn't quite right. Something that approached the uncanny valley. Something that didn't make sense.
Ai had to agree. She expected Eren to react how anyone would. Either anger or even begging. But his voice was calm, as if he was reading a grocery list or stating a random fact. He might of well have said that the sun is hot with how matter of fact he was.
Then he hung up. Eren treated the whole situation as if he was the one in control and the one with the leverage. Ai could tell there was a slight chill in Yoshida's spine at how uncanny it was, but he scoffed it off. He probably assumed Eren was in shock and didn't know what to do.
"Anyway, please make yourself comfortable. Obviously, no electronics, but you have a bathroom and some books for entertainment. Even kids' books for the little one. I don't want you to be too stressed before you go overseas." He said, leaving Ai and Ruby alone.
"M-mama. Are you ok?" Ruby asked.
"Yes, mama is ok." She tried to smile.
"What's going to happen to us?" She asked.
Considering how Eren acted, Ai actually began to hope for something impossible.
"I think papa is going to save us." She smiled as she held her daughter.
"You do realize he has you completely outmatched, right?" Sergei said. "I mean, this isn't the Nakano-Kai."
"Since I've been here Sergei, I have struggled to adapt to this new technology. Every time I got used to something, some new thing would happen that I couldn't anticipate. The technology, tactics, and even the culture was so different. Now, I'm used to it." Eren said.
"That's great I guess." Sergei shrugged.
"Not to mention, since I was trying to hide from the authorities, I've had to be subtle and couldn't take too many risks." Eren said.
"You blew up an entire warehouse by yourself, and you call that subtle?" Sergei asked.
"For me, it is subtle." Eren said.
"That's actually terrifying." Sergei said.
"And I always had to be careful so Ai was never in danger. Now though, now nothing will stop me from killing Yoshida."
"Well, if we're going to do this, we'll need a base of operations." Sergei said.
"We?" Eren asked. "I thought you never get involved."
"I won't, but someone needs to find information and supply you with weapons and explosives. All free of course." Sergei smiled.
"So, another warehouse?" Eren asked.
"Terrible idea, we'll need a new place, so Yoshida doesn't track you down. He knows where most of mine are." Sergei thought. "How about we pay visit to Ai's old boss and borrow their dance studio. It's got enough space to store things."
"He won't agree to it and would probably call the police." Eren said.
"I can be pretty convincing." Sergei chuckled. "Just promise me you'll tell me where the whole "Devil of Paradis" nickname comes from."
"I earned it in my own world when I wiped out eighty percent of the known population." Eren said honestly.
"Just tell me the real story after we save single mom." He said.
"Sure." Eren shrugged, knowing Sergei would never believe the truth. Eren's sure he can come up with a lie after he saves Ai. "Make sure to bring that." Eren said, pointing to his ODM gear.
"The weird grappling hook thing?" Sergei asked. "It looks like a grappling hook, mixed with scuba gear, a motorcycle, and swords." He said.
"I'm almost done with repairs. It'll be useful, trust me."
"Whatever you say." Sergei shrugged.
So, this was an experiment on expectations. It's titled "Hoshino Ai is kidnapped", which makes the reader get worried. Then Sergei does his bit, and the reader breathes a sigh of relief. Then Ai actually is kidnapped, a double fake out lol. Let me know if it worked lol.
Up until now, Eren has been adapting and unable to anticipate. He's been in hiding, and he's had Ai hold him back since he was trying to keep her safe. Now, the gloves are off. He's adapted, no longer hiding, and pissed. The Devil of Paradis is back lol.
Interesting thing, I really wanted the two conversations between Ai's friends and Sergei. It's two conversations that show very different perspectives in opinions. On one hand, you have B-Komachi and Love is War crew with their very first world views, contrasted to Sergie's darker past. Ai needed these perspectives to fully come to an understanding of what she wants.
I also hope I did the reveal of Yoshida knowing Eren saved Kaguya. I didn't want to foreshadow it, but I wanted it to be a logical conclusion that made sense. It's less someone told him and more that he pieced it together because of how odd certain things about it were. I hope that worked lol.
I was going to stretch Sergeis conversation out this entire chapter, but decided I needed to get things moving lol. We've had the drama, the funny, now to get on with it lol.
Hope you guys enjoy this one.