Ep 41 - A Table Set for Three

The smell of miso soup and grilled fish lingered in the small kitchen, warm and comforting in a way that felt almost unnatural. Aiko sat at the table in her school uniform, pristine and perfectly pressed, hands folded neatly in her lap. Across from her, Kanda moved around the kitchen with practiced familiarity. It looked like domestic normalcy. It suited neither of them.

“Eat up,” Kanda said absently. “You’ll need strength. And… I’ll be out most of the morning. Lock up if you go anywhere.”

She nodded with a small smile. “Yes, uncle. Thank you.”

To him, she looked like any shy transfer student. Soft-spoken, a little awkward. To her, the morning light was just another kind of cover. When the door clicked shut, the air in the house changed. The smile vanished, posture straightened, alert and precise. She took out her communication device. “Talia, come in. I am alone in the house.”

“Hear you loud and clear,” Talia replied. “Do you have access to his computer?”

“Yes. But I’ll need you to disable the security system.”

“Take the remote I gave you and put it into the main grid. Just find a free cable.”

A minute had passed.

“Done.”

“I'm in. I can loop the system. You will be invisible. But you have only a few minutes. Just download what you can.”

Aiko moved quickly. No wasted motion. She copied the contents of Kanda’s hard drive, secured the data, and left the room exactly as she had found it.

“Kanda’s picking me up for lunch later,” she said quietly.

“Good,” Talia replied. “We’ll have someone meet you there.”

***

Kanda picked up Aiko and they went to a nearby soba shop. Mei-Ling was already waiting there. When she saw them, she walked towards them. They passed each other like total strangers. No exchange of words or even looks. Aiko quietly passed her the flash drive with the data without anyone noticing.

They went inside. The soba shop was quiet, the hum of the city softened by the clinking of dishes and the low whir of a ceiling fan. Aiko sat at the counter, eyes lowered, tracing the rim of her teacup while Kanda spoke quietly with the waitress. Then the door opened, and the rhythm of the room changed.

“Boss…”

Yuno stepped inside, her presence sharp as a blade even in casual clothes. She gave Kanda a look that wasn’t quite surprised, and wasn't quite at ease either.

“Didn’t expect you here,” Kanda said carefully.

She didn’t smile. “We need to talk. Privately.”

He nodded and turned to Aiko. “Excuse me for a moment.”

They stepped toward the back, behind a half-screen divider where the air smelled faintly of oil and ginger.

“There are foreign agents in the area,” Yuno said in a low voice. “They’ve been seen around your district since last night. Word is they’re looking for connections to the White Fox case - to me. And then I find you here, with… a girl I’ve never seen before.”

“That’s my niece, Aiko,” Kanda replied calmly.

Yuno’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Your niece shows up now, right when agents start sniffing around? You don’t find that just a bit convenient?”

He exhaled slowly, a touch defensive.

“I thought the same,” he admitted. “That’s why I checked. There’s no mistake, she’s telling the truth. I confirmed it myself.”

That answer didn’t erase the doubt in Yuno’s face, but it softened her tone. “Maybe. But I’d still keep my eyes open, if I were you."

He chuckled faintly. “That’s your job, isn’t it?”

Yuno’s gaze flicked back toward the counter. Aiko was sipping her tea quietly, but her posture was too still, too deliberate. She wasn’t a normal schoolgirl on summer break. Yuno could feel it. Yuno then turned back to Kanda. “Then I’ll do it properly. Mind if I join you two for lunch?”

Kanda hesitated, just a fraction too long. Then he nodded. “Sure. Might do us both some good.”

Yuno smiled faintly, but her eyes never left Aiko as they returned to the table — the smile of a hunter who’d just found a new trail.

The three of them sat by the window, a soft glow filtered through the paper blinds. Kanda sat nearest the aisle, his frame imposing even in rest. Aiko sat next to him, polite and silent, her hands folded neatly in her lap. Yuno took the opposite seat, setting her phone face-down and trying to look both friendly and intimidating at the same time.

The waitress arrived with their meals—bowls of miso soup, grilled fish, rice arranged with practiced care. Yuno offered a small smile across the table.

“So, Aiko, was it? Kanda tells me you’re his niece. Must be quite the surprise meeting again after all these years.”

Aiko nodded, her voice quiet but steady. “Yes. I didn’t even know I still had family until recently.”

Yuno tilted her head, watching her carefully. “And what made you start looking now?”

Aiko met her gaze — not boldly, not nervously, just… human. “A friend at the orphanage found her relatives last year. It made me think maybe I should try, too.”

Her tone was natural. Almost too natural. No hesitation, no searching for words. Yuno stirred her miso with her chopsticks, her eyes still fixed on the girl.

“That’s very touching. And how did you track him down? The city records aren’t exactly friendly to outsiders.”

“I found my parents’ names first,” Aiko replied softly. “Ayame and Daisuke Tanaka. Then… I traced what was left. It wasn’t easy.”

Kanda looked at her with something between pride and discomfort. He still wasn’t sure how much of this he believed, but he wanted to.

Yuno leaned slightly forward. “You said you don’t remember much from before the orphanage?”

Aiko shook her head. “No. Only… fragments. Faces. Places. I lost a lot after the fire.”

Yuno’s eyes flickered, but Aiko’s pulse did not. No hitch in her breathing. No tremor in her hands. Calm. Collected.

“Well,” Yuno said breezily, her expression unreadable, “the world’s small enough for miracles like this sometimes.”

Kanda grunted in agreement, happy to move past the questioning. “She’ll stay with me for now. Get her bearings. See if she wants to enroll here after the summer.”

Yuno nodded slowly. “Good idea. But Tokyo can be… overwhelming.”

She smiled again, though her mind was racing. The girl’s story was airtight, her manner innocent, but something about the way she measured her words didn’t fit. Like she’d practiced them.

“But I can´t shake the feeling I´ve seen you somewhere before…”Yuno added casually.

“Have you ever visited Kyushu?” Aiko asked politely.

“No, why?”

“Then probably not,” Aiko said. “That is where I spent most of my life.”

Outside, across the street, a young woman in a sunhat leaned on a railing. It was Liza. A block over, Mei-Ling’s reflection flickered in a shop window and Maya was close by ready on her motorcycle. The others were spread out, pretending to be tourists, pedestrians, watching them, ready to help Aiko, if her cover gets blown. Aiko glanced out the window just once, briefly enough not to draw suspicion, but long enough to confirm: the Fangs were there.

Aiko turned back to Kanda and spoke softly. “Thank you for lunch. It’s been nice.”

Kanda gave a faint nod. “We’ll talk more at home.”

Yuno rose with them, smoothing her jacket. She turned to Kanda. “I’ll drop by the office later.“

Then, after a pause, she turned to Aiko with a small, knowing look. “Welcome to the family.”

Her tone was polite, but her eyes were a quiet promise: I’ll find out who you really are.

***

Evening settled over the Tojo dorms. Talia and Kanzaki were combing through the data. It was encrypted, fragmented, but enough to start painting a very clear picture of Kanda’s network. Shell companies, offshore transfers, covert shipments. The deeper they dug, the clearer it became. Kanda’s network sprawled outward through multiple fronts, some dissolving into others, some looping back in carefully hidden circuits. Among the trails were hints, faint but unmistakable high-grade contracts tied to known proxy entities.

“This is solid,” Michelle said, arms folded as she leaned against the table. “Aiko did a great job. This should be more than enough to lock Kanda up.”

Talia didn’t look away from the screen. “Yeah, just one little problem. Not a single word about our little White Fox. He kept her out of any records.“

Michelle exhaled. “But today's lunch showed that they work together. That's a big enough connection.”

Trella crossed her arms. “We know she’s here. The question is—how do we get to her?”

“We lure her out,” Michelle replied without hesitation. “If we arrest Kanda, she’ll be forced to act. Fight or flee—either way, she makes a move.”

“We´ve been investigating those transactions for some time. Now we know who is behind them. I just need to make one phone call and we have a warrant,” Detective Kanzako said.

Michelle nodded. “We´ll split into two teams. Aya, Mei-Ling, Samira, Liza - you will go to his house and secure it. Aiko will assist you. Trella, Maya, Katya, Anya, Amelie, agent Franklin, detective Kanzaki and I will go to his office. Both teams will have TMPD officers joining them. Milena, prepare sedatives. Something strong enough to knock out Aya twice.”

Milena smiled. “Already have.”

Aya´s expression was priceless.

***

The next morning, the raid began with precision. Team 1 consisting of Aya, Mei-Ling, Samira, Liza and TMPD officers moved like a benevolent storm. They worked silently and methodically, securing doors, checking rooms, sweeping the garden, photographing a set of ledger books, and bagging small evidence. The house was contained; everyone inside was arrested, exactly as planned. Yuno watched them from afar with thin curiosity, then went back to the office unaware that the other team was already there.

Team 2 was standing by. Michelle received a message from the other team: “The house is secured, Aiko is unharmed. No sign of Yuno.” That was the cue.

“The warrant’s clean,” Kanzaki said. “We announce, we enter, we detain. Quick and precise.”

Franklin nodded. “You’ll have federal support on the paperwork. This is your jurisdiction, Detective. Make it count.”

They approached the front entrance. Two of Kanda’s junior guards looked on, already pale with the knowledge of the warrant’s power. The door opened and the team flowed inside — practiced, controlled. Michelle took point with Trella and Maya at the flanks, Katya moving to a high window, Anya and Amelie watching exits.

Kanzaki gave the standard command, then pushed the office door open. Inside — not Kanda’s bulky form, not the thick-backed chair of a crime boss, but stacks of files, an empty coffee cup and a phone that lit as it bristled with an incoming signal. The air felt wrong; the room was too neat. Before anyone could breathe, a soft voice clicked from the doorway behind them.

Yuno stood in the doorway, her long white coat brushed the floor, katana still dripping. The steel shimmered red under the flickering lights.

“Did you bring paperwork,” Yuno asked pleasantly, “or did you come with guns this time?”

Yuno tilted her head, calm as ever. “If you’re looking for Kanda, he’s out of town. But since you’re here too, I suppose Kanda wasn’t the main target. And now I remember where I saw Kanda’s little niece.”

She stepped forward — a single measured pace. A nervous policeman raised his rifle. “Drop—”

The word never finished. Yuno’s katana flashed backward in a no-look stab; the man collapsed instantly. The Fangs lined up in front of her.

“Give up,” Trella warned. “If you want to live. Otherwise you ain’t walking out of here alive.”

Yuno laughed. “And who will stop me? You? Good joke.”

Michelle grabbed Franklin’s arm, pulling him and Kanzaki aside as steel met steel. The room erupted into chaos. Fists, blades, boots slamming against concrete. Gunfire would’ve been suicide in the melee.

Anya rushed in with a flying dropkick, but Yuno caught her leg midair and twisted, slamming her down. A dry crack echoed. Katya charged next; a punch to the chest sent her sprawling into a filing cabinet.

Amelie moved in, dark eyes locked on Yuno. The white-clad killer pivoted away. Not even she wanted to clash head-on with the goth’s raw strength.

In the confusion, Yuno lunged and her katana punched straight through Trella’s torso. The blonde stumbled back, eyes wide, blood soaking her uniform.

Then came Maya. She wasn’t fast, but she had something else — the sticky explosives Samira had handed her earlier. She feinted, grabbed Yuno’s wrist, and planted one of the tiny charges right onto her left hand.

“Boom.”

The explosion ripped the air apart. Yuno screamed. A rare, guttural sound as blood and smoke burst from her hand. The katana fell from her grip, clattering on the floor.

Her left hand was ruined — trembling, blackened, shredded and severely burned. But she didn’t stop. With her right, she grabbed the weapon and fought her way through the haze, until Amelie crashed into her like a freight train, beating her down with fury and precision.

Battered, bleeding, Yuno kicked off the wall and stumbled toward the window. Before retreating, she turned to Michelle — eyes blazing beneath her black bangs. A silent promise: This isn’t over. Then she was gone.

The room fell quiet except for the sound of sirens below and the ragged breathing of the Fangs.

“Don’t chase her,” Michelle said sharply. “We’ve got our own down. Trella is hurt badly. Call an ambulance!”