The next few weeks went by without anything noteworthy happening beyond one boy needing help to retrieve his cat who had gotten stuck in a tree. YF had to borrow the fire department’s only smart-ladder to reach it. With how long the nano-bot deployment process took, the firemen would lend the device to him during the late morning hours. By the time he finally coaxed and grabbed a hold of the cat by the back of its neck, YF could feel the sweat flowing from his helmet and shirt to his shoes.
“Thank you Mr. Policeman!” the boy exclaimed before grabbing his cat and shoving it in its carrier, running off down the pedestrian walkway.
YF smiled widely. He had to admit being called that made him feel good.
A few days later, an unexpected guest showed up at the koban.
“Greetings,” said Toa, saluting him casually, still dressed in her military fatigues.
“Nice bun,” said YF.
“Doesn’t suit me,” Toa admitted. “But won’t let my hair down Sakai. Too lazy to put it back up.”
“Didn’t say anything.”
“Didn’t need to,” said Toa, sitting in his chair.
YF coughed. “You need to report for a roll call soon?”
“No,” she replied, placing her head sideways on the table.
YF changed the subject. “I did need to talk to you about something though.”
“What? Can’t it wait?” she asked, annoyed.
YF decided that it couldn’t. “What do you know about the pure bloods?”
“Pure bloods?” asked Toa. “Annoying. I’d take their money if they came to me for something but I think that’s beneath them.”
YF assumed Reina would have met Toa before, but now that he thought about it, he wouldn’t be too surprised if Erika usually met Toa by herself. “That’s it? Nothing else?”
“Mr. Sakai,” Toa eyed him. “You know that I charge for information. If you want to know something about them, you need to pay.”
YF raised his receiver to his face and looked at his account. Theoretically he could use Kita’s card, but given that he was asking about her as well, he thought it best not to. “What will this buy?” asked YF, holding his receiver up to Toa.
She sighed. “I’ll give you a discount, hand it over.”
YF swiped more DTKs than he cared to part with over to Toa’s receiver.
She seemed to be typing something into her receiver before pocketing and crossing one leg over the other, placing her hands on her knee. “What do you want to know?”
“Kita Ayumi,” said YF. “What do you know about her?”
“Ah, the Kita clan,” said Toa.
“What about them?” asked YF.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
YF could barely suppress his anger. “...What?”
“Mr. Sakai,” Toa said firmly. “Have I ever failed to deliver?”
“No,” YF admitted.
Toa rubbed her temples, seeming to be deep in thought. She let out a long sigh.
“Training tough?” asked YF.
Toa tsked. “You have no idea.”
“How about a calpis?” YF offered.
Toa looked up, giving a thin smile. “Sure, thanks.”
When YF returned later the vending machine drink, Toa grabbed it and gulped it down much faster than he thought she would. She let out a satisfied hiss and wiped her mouth with the back of her sleeve.
"Isn't it hot?" asked YF, eyeing the thick looking camo uniform.
"Yes."
"You want something to change into?"
"You have something that will fit me?"
"You'll just need to tighten the belt."
Toa took out her receiver and swiped toward YF.
YF checked the number of DTKs, which was not much but was awfully specific. He looked up at Toa.
"I know how much a uniform your size should cost. And before you say anything, remember that I don’t receive favors, so you cannot return the money. I'll be in the bathroom, meet you outside in a bit."
When Toa finished changing she stepped onto the path and paused as a gentle breeze blew through. She let down her hair and breathed a sigh of relief, shaking her head lightly. YF only then realized how much she had been sweating. Toa wiped her neck and cheek with her shirt sleeve and then tied her hair into a more elaborate pattern than before, shoving what looked like metal chopsticks to hold it in place.
"Get that shit off your walls. It's tacky," said Toa.
"I didn't paint it."
"I'm sure you didn't. But I'm sure you don't mind it either."
"Whatever.” YF folded his arms. “So are there any…untoward characters in the ranks?” asked YF.
“What do you mean?” asked Toa, closing her eyes and enjoying the breeze again.
“Like…members from the Correction Bureau.”
“What about them?”
“You see them?”
“I saw them pass by in the distance before,” said Toa. “Chain gang, going off to somewhere. Wasn’t sure where.”
“That’s it?” asked YF.
“That’s it,” said Toa.
“Weren’t conscripted?”
“If they were, they are probably in a different division,” said Toa. “Also didn’t see any female inmates. We’re gender segregated. Not like those guys are going to join us.”
“I see.” YF nodded slowly. “Where are you stationed?”
“Why are you so curious about all this all of a sudden?”
YF lowered his voice. “There’s been a lot of strange stuff going on around here. Was wanting to see how things are playing out where you are. Most importantly though, why were you even conscripted in the first place?”
“Would prefer to be as normal as possible.”
“Discreet?”
“Sure,” Toa replied.
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“I went to your place with Erika once,” said YF. “You don’t seem that hidden away.”
“I knew your wife from a long time ago.”
YF did not remember Erika mentioning that, though he had to admit she didn’t mention much of anything. He glanced at the cameras in the corners of his koban. Where there used to be one, there were now two. “I’m hungry, go to Daimon?”
“More udon?” asked Toa.
“Of course.”
“Fine. I know a place,” said Toa.
***
“Park here,” YF could hear Toa say through the helmet comm. He stopped in front of a cake shop and waited for Toa to get off first before dismounting. He then followed her as she headed down the alley. They eventually arrived at the pocket of an L shaped building, where several yatai food carts were situated. Toa and YF ordered from the udon cart and then sat on a park bench on the opposite end of the square.
“So what about Kita?” asked YF.
“Only the head and the heir of that family have any land. Rest of them found jobs in the government. Mostly in law enforcement.”
YF’s ears perked. “And?”
Toa’s voiced lowered. “Kita’s family is closely tied to the Hatas. There are rumors that several people in the Kita clan serve as mercenaries in Black Diamond. I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you who they are.”
YF recalled when he and Uraga raided the Aritomo building hoping to save Kaori. They had shot several corporate security force members donning black armor. Thinking about his meeting with Yui afterward and how she perfectly acted as if nothing had happened sent a shiver down his spine.
YF was surprised that Toa would trust him with this sort of information about the relationship between the Kita and Hata families. But from another angle, her openly speaking against Hata Yui and the Black Diamond suggested that perhaps she was biased — despite her protests to the contrary. He wondered if Toa was more closely tied to Viper Sect than she let on; if that were true, the information she was now providing would be skewed. When he glanced at Toa again, she was already done with half her noodles.
"You hear about Silver District?" asked YF.
"I'm offended you would think I haven't heard of it," she said after swallowing some noodles.
"She's investigating it for the Ward Office."
“Who, Kita?”
YF nodded.
"Huh," said Toa, raising the bowl and drinking the soup. "Not like sectarian shootings are new. Thought the Ward didn't care unless it was a civilian murdered."
"Could be the high powered guns."
Toa blinked. "Are you serious? High powered guns?"
"There were more of them than usual," YF insisted. "The most important thing though, is I need to know what's going on here and no one is telling me the truth."
"What will the truth give you?" asked Toa. "And I mean this sincerely. Truth can be a prison. In some ways, it already is for me." She finished her soup.
"So you know more about it."
"Not exactly. I have been gone for a while, you know. But I have my guesses. You going to eat that?" she asked, motioning with her chin to YF’s bowl.
“Help yourself,” he said, handing the bowl to her. YF watched her as she ate. He could only imagine what they were feeding her in the barracks.
"Tell me about your guesses," said YF.
"The whole country is militarizing,” she said, as if annoyed that he was interrupting her. She ate some more and paused. “What does that mean for business?"
"Aoshima Group bought out Sumida Corporations weapons division."
"Naka Ai is a real tragedy. If only she was as competent as her mother."
YF recalled seeing Reinas dilated eyes and her compulsion to itch herself the evening of the charity ball. The two of them had met Naka Ai earlier that day, who also seemed high on something. "So Reina wants the government contracts. But that doesn’t really seem like her either. Is it just about profits? What does this have to do with Silver District? Maybe Sumida made those guns. They looked like they were all deregistered. No trademarks. Not sure what the price of a Sumida rifle is on the black market."
"Like I said, I only have my own conclusions. Nothing concrete.” She set aside the second empty bowl. “Let's watch the sunrise. I'll tell you where to go."
"The sunrise?" YF wasn't sure he had ever heard any of his people say they wanted to see a sunrise.
"Yes Sakai, a sunrise. Come on."
***
As Toa directed him to their destination, YF noted that they were taking the country roads he and Erika had taken when she had her biometric ID changed. They eventually turned off the main road and down a narrow forest road stopping in front of an abandoned house. The house seemed like it was once an elegant structure but had long lost its luster. Someone had removed all the window grills on the first floor with the openings subsequently boarded up with plywood. The house’s exterior metal was mostly rusted, with a few places where the rust had created holes to the other side.
Toa got off the scooter and started walking without waiting for him; YF turned off the reactor and followed after her. The two then made their way up the steps to the front door. Toa pressed a combination of numbers on the keypad and stood back as the rusty door swung open with a squeak. They stepped over the threshold.
Inside, it looked like the house had been looted multiple times, with overturned drawers and items that thieves did not seem interested in scattered on the ground. Toa went up the stairs, into one of the bedrooms and out to the covered balcony. She then took out her receiver and typed something, causing the windows surrounding the balcony to tint slightly.
"You hacked someone's house?" asked YF.
"Not like anyone lives here."
“Do you know who used to live here?”
Toa leaned on the rail, pointing toward a gap between two mountains. “Just watch, Sakai.”
YF stood some distance away from Toa and leaned gently against the rail. As he waited anxiously for the sun to rise, he started to fiddle with the card Reina had given him in his pocket, finally taking it out and flipping it a few times.
“Which one is that?” asked Toa.
“Shukuyu, the Fire God.”
“You’re into oracle cards?” asked Toa.
“Someone gave this to me.”
Toa eyed him. “You’re looking at it funny.”
YF blushed, putting the card back in his pocket.
Toa smirked. “Though I’d be careful about showing that around. It’s worth quite a bit.”
“What do you mean?”
“Just keep it safe, Sakai.”
YF took out the card again, glancing once over the rail. He felt compelled to throw it over the side for some reason, but just as he thought it over, the sun began to rise between the mountains. YF fought his reflex to shield his face, though he could not help but raise his arms from the rail as the rays grew stronger and stronger against the window.
“Relax, breathe,” said Toa.
YF slowly brought his arms back to the rail and forced himself to lean forward. The sensation that a few modified window panes were all that stood between him and certain death did bring some level of clarity in the moment. YF thought about Erika, Reina, Viper Sect, the Sentinels, and finally landing a proper job that seemed to have a path forward and upward. All of that seemed fleeting given a failure in the house’s system would end those relationships and struggles within seconds. YF turned to Toa, who still had her eyes closed. It should be no surprise that a woman as bitter and cynical as her might want to come to a place like this to feel alive.
“You have some place to stay? Didn’t get evicted too did you?” asked YF.
“Not yet, though they’re razing our block for redevelopment in a few months.”
“So you have somewhere for now.”
“Yep.”
“That’s good.”
“You know why I brought you here right?” asked Toa.
“Feel like talking to somebody from your past after dealing with assholes at boot camp?”
“No.”
“Then?”
“I really hate that lost puppy face of yours,” said Toa.
YF frowned. “What do you mean?”
Toa opened her eyes slowly. She turned to him with an irritated expression. “You don’t think very much do you? What are you doing? Where are you going? Are you happy? Are you getting what you want?”
“I’m not lost,” YF protested. “I’m not a Sentinel anymore, working on an important case.”
“You’re not a Sentinel anymore because the Ward incorporated the Villages and now you make enough money to eat udon for lunch every day.”
“I think you’re projecting,” YF scoffed. “Not everyone cares about money as much as you.”
“I think you’re deflecting,” Toa countered.
“Look, when I was twenty I thought I knew everything too,” said YF. “Just stop the preaching and let’s get back to the koban.”
“Don’t run away,” said Toa.
YF breathed in and out deeply to try to calm his nerves. “Well I do need to get back to my shift, so if you have something important to say, say it quick.”
Toa rubbed her temples in frustration. “I’m saying that you don’t need to care about money or whatever. I just wish you would care about something. Anything at all. If you want to join the wandering highway gangs because stealing makes you feel alive, then do that. Or join a conglomerate and climb the ladder. Or join a bard bus and sing at the metro stations. Something. I don’t like it when I see that void in your eyes.”
“What’s it to you what’s in my eyes?” asked YF. The comment on climbing a conglomerate ladder also brought up an image of Hiroyuki, which he did not appreciate. “Cut the savior complex, it’s annoying.”
“Erika is my friend. And it bugs me that she married a man with such little drive.”
YF felt very offended, but he could not help but appreciate that she would say these things to his face, unlike Erika’s other friends who thought the same but only said it through their eyes. “Yeah great, it’s good advice, I’ll think it over. You can say your piece some more on the way back.”
“You’ll really think it over though? Not just say it?”
“Yes. I’ll think it over.”
Toa nodded with satisfaction. “Drop me off at my place, it's not far from here. I can call a courier for my stuff. Just load it in the container.”
“Fine,” said YF.
Toa exited the room and started down the stairs ahead of him. YF turned once again to the sun shining brightly in the distance. He reached up and touched the glass, feeling the heat through his fingers. YF then lifted his hand and followed after Toa.