15 The handoff

Ichiro sat there, alone. Agent Yamamoto had stepped away, into the hallway, checking a phone that Ichiro saw had had no messages displayed. Just leaving Ichiro to stew with his own thoughts about the offer. It must have been a few hours before he came back in. Time meant little to Ichiro in there, his mind letting it pass slower and faster as he wrestled with his thoughts.

He hated that the pragmatic part of him weighed the situation. Gods? Just humans but a little different? It went against everything instinctive to him, but… it made so much sense. Hikari not being able to sing godsongs. Shizuko speaking through the silence. The light under the bridge. The song of silence was not just a myth, but it wasn’t a song that could be sung anywhere at any time. Yet. But someday it would be, and that day should be postponed, or just struck altogether from knowledge. The logic stuck.

But it also meant imprisonment, and betrayal. He didn’t know how a god got their song but there was a heavy doubt in his mind that Shizuko had ever wished to be the lynchpin in this whole situation, or that she even got to choose her song at all.

And Hikari’s song, it was true to her name and nature, a soft, gentle light. She didn’t have anything to do with this, not really. It wasn’t her fault that her sister was tied up in all of this. She shouldn’t have been chased down and imprisoned. And if Agent Yamamoto was offering a way to ensure her safety going forward, would it be so bad to choose it?

The door opened, the hinges silent. Ichiro watched as Agent Yamamoto took his time returning to his seat and settling back in. “I hope you took your time to think carefully, Yamada-kun,” he said. “We can get you out here pretty quickly, if you have the right answer. This won’t show up on your record or anything either. In fact, I’m sure that you’re looking to go to a good university in a few years; we can certainly help with that.” He had slowly been leaning forward with each word, elbows now on the table, edging closer and closer. “So, do we have a deal?”

“...No.”

“...Excuse me?” Agent Yamamoto questioned as Ichiro fought to keep a stoic expression. “I want you to think over your answer very carefully. One response will allow us to keep the world and all order safe, while the other will inevitably invite unbridled chaos into society.”

Ichiro swayed in his seat, wavering only in body under the stern glare. He swallowed, sweating a bit as he stared the suited man in the face. “I said ‘no’.”

“Kid… I don’t think you get it,” Agent Yamamoto sighed, sitting back. “If the song of silence is known and given to the world then—”

“I don’t care!” Ichiro snapped. It wasn’t completely true but it was true enough in this case. “You keep going on and on about how you need to contain it and the ends justify the means. But that doesn’t mean you can just kidnap and hold Shizu like that!”

“I certainly can!” Agent Yamamoto countered. “Do you not know where you are!? This is the National Bureau of Song Preservation. It’s in our name to preserve songs, by any means necessary! Including holding a god before she can release the song of silence into the world!”

“You can’t do that!” Ichiro argued, his voice rising, face turning red. “That’s not something you’re allowed to do to ‘preserve songs’! That’s not the truth!”

“You want the truth!?” Yamamoto shouted, rising from his chair, sending the metal seat clattering on the floor. “The truth is that those two should be studied in a lab before they ascend and disappear!”

“That won’t ever happen!” Ichiro screamed back, rising as well, though tugged down into a slight hunch as the short cuff chain went taunt. “You won’t have them!”

“Not at this rate,” Yamamoto grunted, marching to the door. His heel turned, squeaking, as he pivoted before reaching the exit, pacing rather than leaving. “Gods don’t last, boy.” He pointed a finger directly at Ichiro’s chest. His suit jacket stretched, constraining the motion slightly, and he grunted angrily as he wrestled it off, throwing it to the floor. “They don’t die often either,” he ranted, returning his focus to the high schooler, “because they just vanish after they’ve passed on their song. And now that we found two of them and they’ve both passed on theirs, I have no idea how long until we have to get to them, or until their songs are global.”

Ichiro paled, the information slowly sinking in. His knees weakened and he gently collapsed into the chair that was still left in its place. “...They disappear?”

Yamamoto rolled his eyes. “Yes, a real nuisance. Sometimes they last for a while with each other, but throw a human into the situation and something happens: Poof!” He wiggled his fingers like a small firework for emphasis. “So our timeline for studying either of them is shortened.”

Ichiro’s knuckles whitened as he clenched his fists. His head rose as he stared Yamamoto in the eyes. “…I’ll never help you capture them,” he growled.

“Brave words… from an idiot,” Yamamoto grumbled as he turned back to the door, opening it. “Hey, you there,” he called into the hall. Ichiro watched as he saw the fully riot geared individual come over, standing at attention at Yamamoto’s order. “Take this boy to the holding cell until I figure out what to charge him with,” Yamamoto said as he handed over a key and stepped back.

The one cuff was unlocked and threaded through the metal loop, freeing Ichiro from it, before it was relocked, again joining his wrists. Yamamoto shook his head as he shook the dust from his suit jacket. “You could have been on the right side of things, Yamada,” he said as Ichiro was led out of the room.