CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Mimawarigumi Headquarters was immediately adjacent to the public square in that part of the city. The trio stood warily in the shadow of a statue, Thalia searching for her phone so she could call someone to come and pick them up while Seizo stood alert for any sudden movements on any side. Sekiguchi stumbled against him, and Seizo had to help steady him for a moment.
When the captain looked up again, he found Wataru Aoi – not easily recognizable in a Mimawarigumi uniform – standing in front of him, holding a mother and baby hostage with a dagger quietly poised beneath the frightened woman’s breast. Four others dressed as Mimawarigumi surrounded them.
"Bastard," Seizo breathed, not daring to shout. Thalia stopped searching her pockets for a phone that was not there and gasped upon seeing the mother and baby, then looked at Sekiguchi indignantly, who was holding her phone with a regretful smile.
“Thalia-sama, I’m sorry, but I cannot do without you,” he said, sounding genuinely remorseful. “You’ll see, though – you’ll know you belong with me once you let go of outdated ideas. You’re just like me, you simply haven’t realized it yet.”
“You set this whole thing up – Natsume too?” she hissed, and there was pain as well as anger in her voice.
“There’s no trouble I wouldn’t go to in bringing you to my side,” he replied with a smile that was almost tender, as if he thought her tone one of delight over some extravagant gift. “I know you want to discuss this loudly, but if you do not come quickly and quietly, more than just these hostages will suffer for it. Notice that we are in a public place; that is not by accident. If you talk to anyone on the way, or if anyone tries to help you, there will be blood on the ground. I trust this is understood.”
Thalia evaluated her options, which were scarce, and exchanged a grim look with Seizo, who had come to the same conclusions independently. They were stuck doing what they were told, for now at least.
“Very good,” Sekiguchi said, holding his arm out for Thalia to take. “So long as you keep in mind that we’re all walking together as dear friends, everything will be fine.” This was addressed to all of them, and though the unfortunate young mother let out a small gasping sob, otherwise they complied. Thalia even managed to smile up at Sekiguchi as she told him very softly that she looked forward to discussing all this privately with him.
He laughed, as if in affection. “Oh, I know how angry you must be, my dear,” he said, “but we won’t have any fangs, claws, or evil eyes, if you care for what you think of as innocent life.”
Thalia left a subtle trail, knowing it wouldn’t be long before someone alerted Headquarters, and then Harada would be after them at once. She was an easily recognized public figure, which played to her advantage in this case. She stuck out her foot and ‘accidentally’ tripped someone in a group of young women, knowing they would turn and stare after her, all the more since they were indignant at her rudeness in failing to apologize.
“Very nice, Thalia-sama,” Sekiguchi said, anger in his eye despite his smile. “But don’t try that again, if you please.”
Occasional murmurs were audible to all of them as they passed:
“Isn’t that the Lovely Lieutenant?”
“Who is she with? That’s not the Vice-Chief!”
“She waved at me! I’m sure she was looking right at me and smiling!”
“That’s the wild beast of a captain with her too. Do you have your camera?”
Sekiguchi was growing irritated, especially with Thalia’s smiles and waves. “What are you doing? Are you really willing to test me?” he hissed.
“They’ll only think it’s strange if I don’t acknowledge them, you idiot,” she replied with her false smile glued in place. “You forgot what a popular figure I am in Kabukicho now, didn’t you? Too late to worry about that.”
Seizo, who had been positioned to walk in front of Wataru and the hostages, but behind Thalia, heard this and smirked despite the gravity of the situation. He could feel Wataru’s sharp ears just waiting for him to move even a little toward his katana; he knew it would go very badly for that woman and child if he so much as twitched in the wrong direction. Still, he and Thalia were keeping their heads; as long as they continued to do so, he believed they would be fine. There would be a way out of this.
Not long after he thought this, someone called out to Thalia.
“Thalia-chan!” Kyoko’s sweet voice repeated.
Sekiguchi leaned toward Thalia, smiling. “Answer her. But be very, very careful,” he warned.
Thalia turned and waved at her friend with a bright smile. “Kyoko-chan! How are you?” she exclaimed. The two women embraced.
“Oh, I'm fine, darling – and here you are, surrounded by handsome men, as always,” Kyoko said, batting her lashes at Sekiguchi, Wataru, and Seizo. “But yours isn’t here!”
“Ah, well, he had a lot of paperwork this morning. I’m really out on patrol, but Seizo and I met up with some old friends, so we’re having lunch together. That reminds me, Kyoko-chan, I must tell you that Harada-san really did not enjoy the last recipes from the Kabukicho exchange. I think we both felt a little sick from the Pufferfish sauce, so I’ll definitely be voting for that one to get pushed out of the running for the cookbook,” Thalia said, maintaining her bright smile as she chirped inanely.
“Oh, how terrible!” Kyoko said. “I haven’t tried that recipe myself – perhaps I’ll make a note to avoid it, if it’s that bad.”
“Oh, it’s quite sickening. Poisonous, even,” Thalia said, nodding her head very fast. Seizo thought about how hilarious this performance would have been under less dire circumstances and kept smiling at them both.
“We really should be moving on, Thalia-chan,” Sekiguchi said with another tight smile, taking her arm again. “The baby seems to be getting quite hungry, not to mention the rest of us.”
“Of course, Tei-chan,” Thalia said, smiling up at him, then bidding Kyoko a simpering farewell.
“Next time you say anything unnecessarily long to someone, no matter how innocuous it seems, the woman loses a finger. Understood?” Sekiguchi hissed down at her when they had gone a little further up the street.
“I’m sorry,” she said contritely. “I was trying to behave normally,” she explained, turning her large silver-blue eyes on him in appeal.
“Were you?” he asked, a cynical smirk curling his lip. “I’m not quite sure. Be thankful for the uncertainty – but this is the last grace I’ll grant you.”
They walked another few blocks in silence, then entered a building that was quite near the docks, though not one of the warehouses. It was an abandoned factory, by the little Thalia could see in the dim interior.
“And here is where some of us part ways,” Sekiguchi said.
“Please let them go,” Thalia said then, indicating the hostages.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“You must understand I can’t do that. You are a force to be reckoned with, and you’re not very pleased with me at the moment, so I do need leverage. The fact that you must operate from love actually gave me this advantage, if you think about it, Thalia-sama. You cannot risk wounding the innocent in retaliating against the guilty, and that is your weakness. This good lady and her child will accompany us onto the ship,” Sekiguchi said, an unpleasant light of gloating in his eye. “If there is any fuss or uproar of any kind, and if you manifest the Fury toward me or my men, Thalia-sama, they will suffer for it.”
Okada Seizo stepped forward, tossing his belt, along with his sheathed katana, onto the dusty ground. This was no easy thing to do, Thalia knew, since a samurai’s sword represented his soul.
“You already have a hostage, Sekiguchi,” he said. “You can release them and take me instead. Wataru has a uniform on, he can cuff me and I’ll come quietly.”
“A generous offer,” Sekiguchi said. “However, I have learned my lesson from the Vice-Chief about taking dangerous men hostage. I’m afraid I must decline. But your … Lieutenant … will no doubt hold your memory all the dearer for your selflessness,” he said ominously.
Thalia shook her head vehemently, though she kept her voice low. “If you won’t accept his offer, you’ll let him go unharmed if you wish me to cooperate with you in any way. Trust me, Sekiguchi, if you push me too far I won’t be able to control myself for the sakes of any number of hostages, and we’ll all be worse off for it than you can even imagine.” The deep growl of the Fury was beginning to creep into her voice, the pupils of her eyes already slitted.
“Stand down, Lieutenant, you don’t get to make deals for me,” Okada said sternly, glaring over at her.
“Tch. Imagine me being lectured by you,” Thalia said, shaking her head at him and giving him a heartbreaking smile. “Roles really do reverse at times, I suppose, but Captain, I’m afraid my maternal instinct is far stronger than my respect for authority in any form.”
“‘Maternal instinct?’” Sekiguchi repeated. “That’s physically impossible,” he protested, genuinely surprised.
“Who ever said the Fae age at the same rate humans do?” Thalia asked. She didn’t intend to go into the whole past-lives explanation, so this idea would do. Sekiguchi stared intently into her eyes for several moments, gauging her sincerity.
"I don't believe you. Captain Okada was here long before you arrived," he said at last, though the uncertainty in his tone was evident.
"But not before the Portal was opened," Thalia pointed out. "The point is, I will destroy this entire planet before I let you hurt him. You'd best believe me on that, for all our sakes." The deep, resonant growl crept back into her voice in the last sentence, terrifying the poor young mother, who crouched on the ground hiding her baby's face against her as she hyperventilated.
“Ah, I see. Maternal instinct is indeed a force to be reckoned with; I don’t want to push you there, Thalia, you’re quite right. Oi, what a pain. We can’t just let him go, but nor can we dispose of him,” Sekiguchi said. “Wataru, take him to the basement and cuff him to the water pipe. That will at least delay things long enough for our purposes. Are you satisfied, Thalia-sama?” he asked with an edge to his voice.
“Is that a real question?” she snapped. "I don’t like it, but it’s better than what you were planning to begin with.”
“Which, you must admit, is an admirable demonstration of the word ‘compromise’,” Sekiguchi replied with a wicked glint in his eye.
“Like you’d know,” Thalia snorted. “You’ve never compromised in your life – any of your lives – unless you had to.”
“We can discuss my lives at leisure on the ship, but for now we should be going. Wataru – take him.”
There were no emotional scenes or promises of retribution; Seizo and Thalia knew better than to make any.
“I’ll see you soon, Kaa-chan,” was all Seizo said in farewell with one of his rare, sweet smiles. Thalia was choking on tears of anger and worry, so she contented herself with a nod and a painful smile, then watched as Wataru prodded Seizo with the edge of his sword and they departed for the lower parts of the building.
Sekiguchi actually felt regret; he had not realized that the bond he’d noticed between Thalia and Okada was mother to son, but having observed their interaction, he no longer doubted it. That was one of very few bonds he held sacred, out of a lingering memory of his own long-dead mother. He put a hand on her shoulder, not thinking of her anger; she stopped breathing, then looked slowly up at him with death in her eyes.
“Do. Not. Touch. Me.” Her voice was not loud, but so deep it seemed to reverberate to the core of the earth. He removed his hand hastily, recognizing that he was truly pushing the limits of her restraint, hostages or not.
This was a good thing, though, he told himself; she was hovering at the edge of destruction, her powers at full peak. All he had to do was direct it, and his dream would begin to unfold before him: the corrupt world destroyed, so a new and better one could rise in its place.
***
Kyoko went straight to Shinsengumi Headquarters after encountering Thalia; her first inclination had been to follow them, but Wataru Aoi had sharp ears and was immediately suspicious of her. He turned abruptly after they’d passed down the street, and made a very clear though wordless threat. So she took note of their general direction and trusted Thalia and Seizo to find a way of leaving a trail.
Harada was updating Kato on their pending court cases, some of which one or both of them would need to appear for, when Kyoko burst into the room without ceremony.
“Kyoko-san!” Kato exclaimed, blushing at the sight of her.
An out-of-breath, flustered young officer followed close on her heels, full of apology for the lack of ceremony.
“What is it, Kyoko-san?” Harada said sharply, seeing the distress in her eyes.
“I’m not entirely sure, Vice-Chief,” she said carefully, “but something is wrong with Thalia-chan and Captain Okada. I met them on the street, but they were with some others I didn’t recognize, and they both acted very strangely. I know she was telling me something was wrong, but I didn’t understand what.”
“Please tell us exactly what happened, Kyoko-san,” Harada said, inviting her to sit with them. She did so, making her tale admirably succinct despite her confusion and anxiety.
Harada’s eyes were sharp and haunted when she finished. “She said the Pufferfish sauce was poisoned?” he repeated.
“Yes; she talked as if we had a recipe club, which of course we don’t.”
Harada recognized this as Thalia’s way of getting a message to him about Natsume Ishida; they had discussed him at length not long ago, expressing their suspicions and their analyses of his ambitions as well as his character. Thalia had scathingly remarked that she didn’t see why he wanted to affect a monocle, which only emphasized the fact that he had the eyes of a dead fish that would be poisonous even to smell. After that, she nicknamed him Pufferfish. She was telling him now through Kyoko that Natsume Ishida was responsible for this.
“Can you describe the men she was with?” he asked, afraid he already knew.
“The one holding Thalia’s arm was about the same height as Captain Okada. He had a bandage over his left eye and seemed unwell, or injured. The taller one in the white uniform had blue hair and several ear piercings, which surprised me since he’s Mimawarigumi, and I thought they were stricter than that,” she said.
“They are stricter than that,” Commander Kato said grimly.
“Sekiguchi,” Harada hissed. Rage and fear began to build in him, creating their synergy of violence. “He never stops. He’ll never leave her alone,” he said, mostly to himself.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t stay with her, Harada-san,” Kyoko said, her big eyes filling with tears. “But I didn’t know what might happen if I kept following when the one with blue hair knew about it.”
Harada shook his head. “No, you did right, Kyoko-san. I have no doubt the woman and child you saw with them are hostages, and would have suffered if you had provoked them. That’s how he’s controlling Thalia.”
Kyoko went very pale at that. “Then Captain Okada” – she began.
“Is no longer necessary,” Kato finished.
Harada went straight to a drawer in one of his cabinets and pulled out a small rectangular electronic device that Kato thought looked vaguely familiar.
“Tetsu!” the chief said, hope dawning on his face. “Is that the remote locator prototype you gave Thalia-chan?” Harada nodded with a tight smile. “I also made sure she had it sewn into her uniform. Now is when we test it,” he said. “It won’t help locally, it’ll only confirm whether or not she’s still in the city, but at least it gives us some general idea.”
There was a tense silence as the device hummed indeterminately. Finally, it settled into a rhythm of low tones that corresponded with a flashing green light. Numbers appeared on the small screen, which confirmed that Thalia was indeed still in the city somewhere. Thanks to Kyoko, they had a more specific place to begin the search, as well as an idea of the direction in which they’d been headed.
“Right. Let’s get everyone searching the city on the assumption she is still here and Seizo is with her, until we know differently,” Chief Kato said. He immediately put out a call to all squads on patrol, directing them to keep a sharp eye out for Lieutenant Cairde, Sekiguchi, Captain Okada, or a Mimawarigumi officer with blue hair and ear piercings. He stressed the fact that their lieutenant and captain were missing, and possibly in grave danger.
After that, he called an emergency meeting with all officers still in Headquarters, and the Vice-Chief drew up a search plan, dividing the western quarter of the city into a grid and assigning each squad a section.
They did not notice Kyoko’s departure; she went directly to Kirito’s agency and told them what was happening, so they could organize their own search effort. It would be considerably more chaotic, but possibly effective nonetheless.