The Great Interrogation - Part 2

"Why do I feel like I'm a kid being dragged out of summer camp?"

“Well, if anyone knows the feeling, it would be you.” Tatsuya quipped back.

“Correction. Us.” 

His brother sidestepped the accusation. “You know, you’re more like yourself when you’re with her.”

“I’d argue I’m less like myself.” Makoto said, staring out the window with his palm pushed against his jaw, fingers curled on his cheek.

“Really? Well, I guess that depends on who you want to be.” Tatsuya mused.

“That changes on an almost hourly basis, so I wouldn’t count on that for anything.”

“Well, coming from someone who’s known you your whole life and quite literally shares your genetic coding, she brings out a better side to you." Makoto turned his body halfway to look at him. 

“And what side would that be?” 

 “A genuine one.”

“I’m always genuine.”

“Not always. Not like that."

"Hmph." Makoto then glanced out the window again. 

“Where're we going?” Tatsuya looked down at his phone. “There’s someone I need to keep tabs on.”

“Another client?”

“Yep.”

“Same old?”

“Most likely.”

“You know, you’re always doing these cases and I never thought to ask you if-”

The car stopped at a park filled with beautiful trees and a mid-sized body of water in the middle.

“Hold on. We’re here.”

“Wait already? Why didn’t we just walk then?!” Makoto exclaimed.

“Too obvious. Well, it wouldn't be if we weren't twins.” Said Tatsuya, and having already paid the driver, he stepped out. Makoto sighed and followed Tatsuya out of the car. Together, they walked down a path away from the buzz of people at the front of the park. "You were saying?" Tatsuya said.

“Are the cases you take the reason why you never date?”

“What? No.”

“Then why don't you?”

“Just never put much effort into it." Tatsuya gestured toward a bench that overlooked the lake and the majority of the park. They sat down, ignoring the ducks trying to peddle them for breadcrumbs as neither of them had any. Each aggressive "quack-quack" and "honk-honk" served as obscenities toward the selfish humans.

Tatsuya continued, "Anything worth having needs effort, and I haven’t cared to try. I’m not opposed to it, but admittedly, if I did find someone to date, it would be in spite of my laziness, and I wouldn’t deserve it.” Tatsuya explained. “Whereas you are very adamant on companionship. So you put a lot of effort into that, with the way you cut your hair and the way you dress and speak.”

“But your hair and style are nearly the same as mine.”

“That’s because of the promise I made you, nothing more.” Tatsuya's voice held steady with diplomacy yet there was a clear softness in his voice.

“No. You're not still on that, are you?” Makoto said, holding back a laugh.

“I’m very serious about that, actually.”

Makoto smiled with disbelief. “And you say I’m ridiculous!”

“In the event that you get yourself into trouble, I’ll be a suitable decoy to protect you. We’ve been over this.” Tatsuya said, then leaned forward in his seat with his palms on his legs. He squinted out at the still water filled with several quiet boats. 

“Follow me.”

The private detective left the bench in favor of the docks in swift long strides. His brother followed suit, still on the subject prior. 

“That would make sense if I were in the yakuza, but the most trouble I get into is dating girls I shouldn’t. And… various other things. But nothing to get killed over!” Makoto exclaimed as he caught up with his brother.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s childish or if it will never happen. I hope it never does. I made that promise to you-”

“When we were ten, after watching the same lame gag on a B-rated movie.”

“-and I’m going to keep that promise.”

Makoto sighed with a shake of his head. “You’re just as weird as me. Sometimes I think you’re even weirder.”

“Probably.” Tatsuya said, then walked up to a booth at the dock and gave the attendant a bit of money. Once given his receipt, Tatsuya led Makoto down to the end of the dock which stretched into the teal water.

“Anyway, I’d rather get my beating over with, so what is it this time?” Makoto said, his arms folded over his chest. He was so preoccupied he hadn't stopped to think why they might be standing at the end of the dock in the first place.

“All in due time. For now.” Tatsuya said, then gestured to a large, garish white boat with a swooping long neck and wide wings. “Get in the swan vessel.”

Makoto’s eyes narrowed into two thin lines. "Right." Without needing more explanation than that, he stepped into the large swan pedal boat.

“I spotted the target in one of those row boats with an undisclosed figure, but we’re going to have to get closer.” Tatsuya explained.

Once inside the boat, Tatsuya held the side of the bird for a moment while he set his bag down then sat down himself. “Come on, we have to catch up with them.” He said. 

They pedaled the shaky fowl in swift rotations.

Once close enough, Tatsuya ducked back so the bird’s wing would hide him. Peeking out, he looked through his binoculars but still kept a leisure pace. This put him in an awkward position, knees scrunched and back curved to a crescent, but he acted completely normal.

“You kissed Kimiko last night knowing that Daichi guy might see it on the stream.” Tatsuya sprung on the topic without proper transition, but Makoto took it in stride, used to it.

“I’m not jealous, if that’s what you’re implying.” Makoto defended, laid back in his seat with his feet propped up on the front of the boat.

“Kept peddling.” Tatsuya scolded.

“How could you even tell?”

“We’re drifting right.” Tatsuya said. “Now pedal.”

With reluctance, Makoto put his feet back on the pedals and continued his labor.

“You said you didn’t want to marry her or have a relationship with her. If that’s true then you shouldn’t have done that.”

“Aren’t brothers supposed to be happy for you when you kiss a girl?” 

“Tsk. Maybe after the first dozen.”

“Ha. Ha.” Makoto rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat with a thud.

“I’m serious though.” Tatsuya set his optics down for a moment and sat up straight when he looked at his brother. The bird drifted aimlessly without anyone to propel it. “Doesn’t she matter to you at all?”

“How should I know?” Makoto deflected, arms crossed as he looked away uncaring. He blew his hair out of his face with a huff of air only for it to fall back down exactly where it was before.

“You either did this because you like her or to get under that other guy’s skin. So which was it?”

Makoto sighed with irritation. “I know I’ve not been the most benign of people, especially not growing up, but I’ve grown out of that pettiness at least. Is that good enough for you?”

“That still doesn’t answer my question.”

Makoto huffed. “Well, I mean she’s a nice girl and she is beautiful. It’s normal for me to want to kiss her.” He said, his posture loosening up a little. “Kimiko knows that me kissing her isn’t a proposal or that we’re dating. It was just a moment and that’s it.”

“So, she’s no different than any of those other girls you’ve met at a bar or however else then?”

“Yes. I mean no. Whatever.” Makoto sank down further in his seat, realizing his mistake too late. His chin was to his chest, scrunched up, pouting, and cheeks burning. “I hate how you can do that.” Makoto grumbled. He couldn't believe his brother had gotten him to spit out the truth, again. It was like pulling teeth when it came to Makoto. Still, his older brother would always get the truth out one way or another.

Tatsuya kept his smugness subdued for now and looked back into his binoculars for a moment. “Let's pedal closer to that blue rowboat, I need to get a picture.”

They sat up straight once more and pushed their feet round and round until they reached a good angle. “Down!” Tatsuya exclaimed when his target turned his head towards them. He pushed Makoto’s head down. "Twins are too memorable and I can't have them become suspicious."

“You know this wouldn’t be a problem if you would have just dyed your hair black like you almost did in high school.” Makoto grumbled, his body now folded up like an accordion. He popped up a few moments later once the coast was clear.

Tatsuya snapped a few photos. “Alright let's go back. My client will be glad to know that the woman her boyfriend was with was nothing romantic.”

“How can you tell?”

“It's tedious to explain but trust me, over time you get an eye for these things. He’s either trying to make her jealous for whatever reason, or he’s on to her distrust and wants to prove a point.” Tatsuya explained. “Let’s head back.”

It was quiet as they peddled their way back. Nothing but the sounds of chirping birds, soft slaps of water against this boat, and a cool breeze. Then, as Tatsuya suspected, Makoto spoke up once the silence lingered too long.

“You’re right. Okay? I’ll ship her and me back to Planet Platonic, and once these thirty days are over I’ll stop seeing her completely. Everything will go back to normal then.” Makoto said, and he meant it. The other option was falling in love with her and changing his lifestyle and that... was not something he could let himself consider.

His brother hadn’t responded, not even when they made it back onto the dock and stepped back onto solid ground. “Come on Tatsu, I know you’re dying to tell me that I’m ruining my life or something, just say it.”

Tatsuya shook his head with a kind smile and put his hand on Makoto’s shoulder. “Of course not. If that’s how you feel, then I’m not going to belabor the point. Just be sure it’s what you really want before you make a decision like that.” Tatsuya moved his hand to his pocket. “You tend to forget that some decisions can’t be undone.”

A somber smile curled at the corner of Makoto's mouth. “I know.” He said, then paused a moment to let the weight of it sink in before his smile turned to a mischievous smirk. “Like… a weird tattoo, maybe?”

“I told you never ever talk about that again.” Tatsuya deadpanned, then with a shake of his head, he turned and left.

“I’ll see you later!” Makoto said cheerfully with a vague two-fingered salute as Tatsuya headed out with his signature long strides.

Once Tatsuya was far enough away, Makoto's smile slowly faded out, curtains closing to signal the end of a show. As if his new decision had struck him literally instead of figuratively, he rubbed the back of his head. "Damn it... Why does this have to be so hard?"

The navy-haired man returned to the bench overlooking the duck pond once more and reclined into it with his shoes and long legs out in front of him. The ducks once again voiced their swears and complaints at him. Makoto felt a little sorry for them. If Kimiko were here, he was sure she would have found them something to eat. She wasn't selfish like him.

Come on Kimiko, please just be sick of me already…