The team regrouped at the clubhouse and GM gave Sora a stern lecture about working together with the detectives. Afterwards they went back to a normal evening. MC stood in the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water while GM sat and watched the TV. “Did you really have to give her such a lecture?” asked MC.
“She deserved it. Makes me feel like her dad even though I’m really not that much older than her. We can’t screw this up. Both Gil and you have a lot riding on this mission. I think the only way to actually make it work is to cooperate with the detectives.”
“I’m surprised she even sat still for a lecture that long. Where did she go by the way? She never leaves on her own.”
“She shut herself away in her room. Probably pouting or something. Serves her right. She’s a spoiled brat sometimes.”
“You’ve got a point.”
“So kid, what about you? Are you sure about working with them? That girl of yours was pretty pissed right?”
“Don’t remind me,” MC groaned. “But… if we have full cooperation from their team, I think we may be able to defeat Jin. Even still, remembering his power last time we fought, it makes me think it might barely be enough to bring him down.”
“He’s really become that strong then huh?”
“Yeah, he’s stronger than anyone I’ve ever faced.”
“Then this isn’t going to be easy. Not that I thought it would be in the first place. Those detectives better be leaving any of their unseasoned members back at their little headquarters building otherwise they might lose some more lives. It’s going to get hectic. That’s the only thing I know for sure.”
With that, GM got up and headed out the door for his nightly outing. MC went to bed for a good night's rest. Sora sulked in her room playing video games most of the night.
The next few days were spent doing nothing out of the ordinary. MC continued his daily training to which GM occasionally joined in. Sora lazed around and watched anime while keeping up with her regular duties for Gil.
Finally the day to further plan the mission arrived. They met in a smaller room in the detective office. Only Emi and Aiko were present from their side. They planned on passing whatever was discussed to the rest of the team in another briefing. MC, GM, and Sora all seated themselves at a round table across from the two detectives.
“Let’s begin,” said Emi. “MC, what information do you have?”
“The information I was given says that on Saturday night two weeks from today, Jin will be presenting to the new recruits. It will be at the auditorium on seventy-fifth street.”
“Same as the information that Gil and I discussed previously. There’s nothing else you know,?” asked Emi. MC shook his head. “Alright. That auditorium used to be owned by the same people that ran a grocery store close to my house. I heard that they sold the building off about ten years ago.”
“That’s correct,” said GM. “I’ve looked into it quite a bit. It seems that an active member of the Black Diamond now owns that building. They must have purchased it as a convenient meeting location since it’s pretty far from their headquarters building across the city. It would make their meetings more convenient to have a space to use anytime instead of going all the way to their main building. In fact they probably have a dozen or so of these locations. It’s the same with The Organization.”
“On a busy day it can take over an hour to get from one side of the city to the other,” said Emi. “We do the same thing more or less, with being able to use any of the police stations as a sort of temporary home base.” She typed on her laptop for a moment and then leaned back in her chair. She turned to MC. “So, what exactly was the plan that you had in mind for taking out Jin”
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“It was going to be simple. The reason for the gathering there in the first place is to welcome any new recruits that had wanted to join the Black Diamond. I was going to attend as a new pledge in disguise since it’s basically an open invite that gets passed around the underground through word of mouth. There’s going to be lots of shady figures with hoods drawn low over their faces and all that so I’d be able to slip right in amongst them. As soon as I saw Jin, I was going to kill him.”
“And how exactly did you plan to make it out of there alive? There’s going to be a bunch of scared and pissed off Black Diamond recruits sitting there after you kill their leader.”
“I’ll make it out somehow. I always do.”
”That was your plan?” blurted Aiko, startling the room. “You’re going to get yourself killed. Even if you make it as far as getting in there and eliminating Jin you planned on taking on… what? A hundred or more people all at once?”
MC was surprised by her outburst. He didn’t know what to say.
“You’re an idiot. Go ahead and do that. See if anyone cares!”
Emi reached over and touched Aiko’s arm. “Let’s calm down. That’s why we’re meeting today. To make a solid plan where we can avoid things like this. We don’t want to have any unnecessary casualties.”
Aiko relaxed and composed herself. “I guess you’re right.”
“We don’t want to lose anyone from our team and I’m sure you don’t either,” said GM. That’s why Sora and I came up with a plan. As you can clearly see, while MC has great skill and ability, he lacks in the planning department. Sora, why don’t you share the outline of the plan?”
“Right,” she said.
Sora shared the plan that she and GM had composed and everyone listened intently. Even MC had not yet heard their plan. They talked in detail about everyone’s roles and positions as well as timing. They even shared a plan B in case the mission fell apart. Emi and Aiko presented their ideas for improving the plan until it was agreed upon that they would have the highest chance of success and the lowest chance of casualties. There were unknown variables that made each of them feel a bit uneasy, but there was no way to account for every single thing.
Emi voiced a concern, “From what we’ve gathered in the past, there’s usually some sort of ritualistic initiation into the Black Diamond and it’s always different.”
“In The Organization, we don’t have anything like that, but I’ve heard the same,” said GM.
“In our reports it’s been some pretty horrific situations. I’m serious, there was one initiation involving self mutilation where a communal goblet was filled with blood and sipped by every new member. That’s just one off the list. That’s one reason The Black Diamond has such a bad reputation and is more willing to make crazy moves. They’re brainwashed from the start.”
GM put on a more serious face. “We’re likely to face something along these lines, but if we play our cards right and adapt to the situation I don’t think any of us will be involved in any kind of sick games like that.”
After several hours of discussion they wrapped up the meeting and left on a note of continuing to think on the plans and staying in contact with any changes or updates.
They all got up and headed for the door and Aiko grabbed MC on his shirt sleeve. “Can you wait A minute, MC? I want to talk to you.”
“Uh, yeah sure,” he said. “I’ll catch up with you guys later,” he said to Sora and GM as they left the room. Sora gave a scowl at Aiko over her shoulder.
“Sounds like you need some space. I’ll be up straits in the office,” said Emi.
The room cleared out leaving only MC and Aiko.
“What did you want to talk about, Aiko,” he nervously asked. Aiko stood close to him, still holding his shirt sleeve. Her head was down and her long bangs covered her eyes.
“Just promise you’ll be careful,” she said quietly.
Her words surprised MC. They weren’t much, but they were the thoughtful and caring words that he thought he’d never hear from her again. MC felt a tight feeling in his chest.
“I will,” was all he said, not fully knowing how to judge Aiko’s current state. They both stood there in silence until Aiko let go of her lingering hold on his shirt sleeve. She picked her head up and forced a focused expression. “Let’s get going. We’ve both got work to do,” she said.