At Least the Beer was Good

Ryouma looked at the camera feeds. The one out front showed a stocky man with a Hawaiian shirt leaving their apartment next door with a phone to his ear.

“That’s him,” Xiǎomíng confirmed, tapping the monitor. He was dressed differently now, but it was definitely the same guy as before.

From the room they were in, the sound of the door code being entered into the keypad was faint. Ryouma held a finger to his lips and pushed the door to the room closed without latching it. As the front door opened, they could hear one half of a phone conversation.

“The special doorway is gone, too. I think they completely abandoned ship… To be fair, the place is trashed now.”

Ryouma exhaled sharply. The bitter smile on his face signaled to Xiǎomíng that he was planning something. Ryouma stepped to the side of the door and motioned for Xiǎomíng to do the same. He stood on the side of the door that swung inward. Since he hadn’t perfected his ability to cloak himself, he could at least hide behind the open door and try to suppress his presence.

“I’m gonna check the cameras to see if anything popped up, then I’ll report back to you.” He ended the call. Then they heard the fridge open and close, followed by the krrsh of a canned drink opening.

Xiǎomíng watched Ryouma’s fingers twitch in anticipation as the man’s footsteps grew closer to the room. Whatever they were doing was going to be on his signal.

When the man stopped right outside the room, Xiǎomíng’s heart began to race. Does he know we’re here…?

But then he heard the sound of chugging followed by a satisfied ahh. The guy’s defenses were dropped to zero. He had no idea what was in store for him.

Goto pushed the door to the room open and stepped inside. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something move. He whipped his head around to find himself face-to-face with a tall man he’d never seen before.

“Don’t move.” Those words reverberated in Goto’s mind like an unending echo.

He stood immobilized, hit with the command before he even had a chance to react. The boy he’d fought earlier—now almost back to normal—entered his field of vision, and he realized the other man was Nishikawa. Goto’s heart raced. He was completely at their mercy.

“His name is Goto,” Xiǎomíng said, crossing his arms. “Our house is ruined because of him.”

Ryouma pulled the beer can out of Goto’s hand and poured it over his head. “Tell me where you took the girl, Mr. Goto.”

“We…brought her…to…Nagoya…” Goto choked out, trying to fight the command. The beer stung his eyes, but he couldn’t close them. It was like his body was completely paralyzed.

“Where in Nagoya?” The last drops of beer dribbled out of the can, then he dropped it on Goto’s head. It bounced off and clattered to the floor. “Tell me.”

Goto had two choices: fight back against the paralysis or resist the interrogation. There was no way Nishikawa could fully maintain both at the same time. All he had to do was find a crack.

“Shishiba’s penthouse… Located in the Ambition Group Grand Hotel…” He let the words pour out as he put his focus into regaining control over his body.

“Good. Now, tell me what Shishiba wants with the child,” Ryouma commanded, grabbing Goto by the collar.

“He wants to use her ability.” Goto’s fingers twitched, then he was able to move them. The sensation snowballed and soon he’d regained control of his arm.

Goto threw a punch, catching the other two off guard. His fist made contact with Nishikawa’s face, which broke the spell that was immobilizing him. Now free to move once more, he darted out of the room.

“Stop!” shouted Ryouma. Goto stopped in place mid-run like he was playing ‘redlight-greenlight.’ Nishikawa followed up with, ‘don’t move’ and he was frozen once more.

Ryouma nudged Xiǎomíng forward. “Well? Don’t you wanna get revenge on this bastard?”

Xiǎomíng sighed and rolled his eyes. Sure, he wanted a rematch with that piece of shit, but he didn’t quite have the sadistic streak that his master possessed. Xiǎomíng settled for double-tapping Goto in the kidneys as hard as he could.

With the delay in pain response typical of being hit in the kidneys, it took a moment before Goto collapsed. Still immobilized by Ryouma’s command, he could only groan in pain.

“By the way…” Ryouma pressed his foot to Goto’s neck. “Why the hell did you even come back here? I can only think of one person you might still be looking for…”

His foot wasn’t pressing down hard, but it was still making Goto’s breath come out choked. If I don’t get out of here now, then I’m not leaving alive, thought Goto. He had to get back to the entrance—his teleportation only worked by jumping between entryways.

He’d broken free from the command once, so he knew he could do it again. All he had to do was break Nishikawa’s concentration.

From where he lay on the floor, Goto noticed the empty beer can. Something like that would take minimal effort to move. He locked onto it.

“Hey! Who were you looking for?! Answer me!”

“Shishiba’s daughter!” Goto shouted. He flicked his tongue, and the can slid across the floor, whacking his tormentor in the ankle.

Ryouma looked away for a second, creating an opening for Goto to break free from the spell. He took off running again, only this time he jammed his fingers into his ears.

“Shit!” Ryouma and Xiǎomíng went after him.

As Goto got closer to the front door, Xiǎomíng swiftly concentrated his qi. But as he released it, the sorcerer used his powers to slam the separating door closed, blocking the attack. When they yanked it open, he was gone.

“Damn it!” Ryouma groaned, slamming his fist against the wall.

“It’s fine, Master. Somehow, he still has my needle embedded in him,” Xiǎomíng said with a shrug. “I’ll still be able to track him down.”

“Fine.” Ryouma sighed. He looked around the apartment for a moment, then a mischievous grin crept across his face. “But let’s wreck some shit in here before we go.”

***

Midoriko wandered the estate by herself after a bath. While it was always quiet there at night, at that moment it felt dreadfully so.

Xiǎomíng and Ryouma weren’t in any of the common areas, nor were they in their rooms. She didn’t know where they went, but they’d likely started their search for Itoko. Midoriko stood in Ryouma’s cluttered bedroom, unable to stop thinking about him.

It was frustrating beyond belief that he wouldn’t let her help. Sure, she only just had that breakthrough in understanding and manipulating her own powers, but hadn’t she shown she was more than capable? There was no need to treat her like she was something precious.

But maybe it was precisely because she was so valuable to him as treatment for his curse that he felt compelled to do so. Her father’s words, ‘that man is using you,’ dredged up feelings that she’d been working hard to bury.

Midoriko wasn’t blind to the give-and-take nature of their relationship. He was like a shark, and she was just one of those little fish that latch on to rid them of parasites. The mutual benefit was what got them to this point. Still, she would rather stand shoulder to shoulder with him than hang on for dear life.

She browsed through the odd assortment of things Ryouma kept in his room. Books, DVDs, and a retro gaming console alongside trophies from his crimes—like the singed icon of Saint Cyprion of Antioch. Was she also just part of his “collection?”

As Midoriko was about to leave the room, she noticed the kīla lying haphazardly on a shelf. She breathed a sigh of relief knowing that it wasn’t in the wreckage of the old apartment. Maybe it would be okay to just leave it with him for now.

When she got back to her room, she threw herself down onto the futon and took off her glasses. Midoriko let out a long sigh. She had work tomorrow. For the first time since she started working at the museum, she didn’t want to go in. There was no way she was going to be able to get through work with everything that was going on around her, but she had no phone to even call out sick.

Midoriko heard light footsteps approaching her room from the hallway. Her back was to the door, but she could see light pour in as it momentarily slid open before closing again. She knew who it was, but she was still annoyed with him, so Midoriko just pretended she was asleep.

…At least until something cold touched the back of her neck.

“Heee! What the hell is that?!” She jolted upright and rubbed her neck. Ryouma was bent over, extending a can of beer with a huge grin on his face.

“I knew you weren’t asleep!” he said, sitting down beside her. “Here, I brought this for you.”

“I don’t want it.” Midoriko pushed it away.

Ryouma frowned. He looked down at the can, then at her. His eyes crinkled up as his lips curled into a playful smile. Ryouma swiftly opened the can, took a sip, and pressed his lips to Midoriko’s.

Beer spilled out of the corners of her mouth as Ryouma forced it in like a deep kiss. When she swallowed, he licked off what had dribbled down her neck. Midoriko’s body shuddered at the sensation.

“W-what the hell are you doing right now?!” she asked, pushing him off of her. “How much have you had to drink?!”

“Only a couple…” he muttered, taking another swig from the can.

“S-stop with that!” Midoriko put her hand over his mouth as he leaned forward to baby-bird it to her once more. She took the can from him and set it aside. “When did you get these anyway?”

“I stole them from that punk next door in Osaka before I came back here.” Ryouma reached for the beer and downed the rest of it. “Xiǎomíng wouldn’t drink with me because he’s underage, so I was hoping you would.”

Midoriko sighed as she put her glasses on. This man is always an absolute menace…

“Why were you in his apartment–?” Midoriko’s train of thought was derailed after she turned on a lamp and saw the redness where he’d been hit in the face. “What happened to you?!”

She held his face in her hands as she looked him over for any other signs of injuries. Thankfully, it seemed to be the only one. Contrary to his dumb smile, Ryouma’s skin had that same clammy feeling as when his curse was spreading on his body.

Ryouma sighed contentedly as she took his cursed hand and started massaging it. The way she fussed over him like this was addicting. He wanted nothing more than to take her right then and there, but there were some things they needed to discuss first.

“Xiǎomíng and I went to your little friend’s apartment to do some investigating, and we found something interesting there. Do you want to hear about it?” He wore an impish grin as he asked the question.

Midoriko froze. She swallowed hard and looked up at him with eyes full of fear and curiosity. It was such a sickeningly cute look.

“He was watching us the whole time,” Ryouma scoffed. He lifted Midoriko’s chin slightly. “Well, he was watching you specifically.”