12

The silence stretched.

No one wanted to be the first to actually take this seriously.

Tsubasa, having sat down properly, leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "So, do we have to pretend we care about this, or can we just show up tomorrow and hope for the best?"

Kaede raised a hand. "I vote we wing it!"

Ren shot her a look. "You don’t get to vote on that."

"Why not?"

"Because it’s a terrible idea," Yuna said flatly, flipping through the mission file again.

Hikaru let out a slow breath, his fingers tapping against his arm. His eyes flicked to the file in Yuna’s hands. Maybe he should actually pay attention. He was supposed to be the responsible one.

Not that anyone ever believed that.

Kuroya, still silent, finally leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Where is it?"

Yuna glanced up. "Hm?"

"The patrol." His voice was low, almost bored. "Where are we going?"

"Sumida Ward. Starts at the old subway station, loops through the abandoned mall, then back."

Kaede let out an excited noise. "Ohh, I hope we see ghosts."

"Why would you hope for that?" Tsubasa asked, appalled.

"They’d make things interesting!"

"You people are insane," he muttered.

Hikaru’s jaw tightened slightly. Sumida Ward is part of it, the Outer District. The less developed areas of the city. Of course, it had to be there.

He had history with that place. Well, where didn't he have history with at this point?

No one else seemed fazed. The others were still bickering, unaware of how fragile this world really was. Maybe that was for the best.

"So," Kaede kicked her feet up on the desk again, "when do we meet up tomorrow?"

Yuna checked the file. "7:30 AM. Mission briefing starts at 8."

Tsubasa groaned. "That’s so early."

"You can sleep after," Ren said.

Kuroya exhaled sharply. Maybe it was supposed to be a laugh.

Hikaru finally pushed off the wall. "Alright. If that’s it, I’m leaving."

No one stopped him.

Because, as far as they knew, this was just another mission.

But Hikaru knew better.

And the nagging feeling in his gut told him this was only the beginning. But was he going to do anything about it?

No.