Screw Ups, Interrogation, Sticky Situation

Yukio sits in a seat by a metal table with a desk lamp shining in his face and a bowl of Katsudon and chopsticks in front of him as he thinks “How did I screw up badly enough for this to happen!?”

“We’ve got this guy in the chair, now we just need to make him crack.” Ichiro thinks as he sits across from Yukio from the other side of the table glaring at him menacingly like a predator stalking its prey before thinking “If he has any connection to the serial killer we’ll get it out of him one way or another.”

While sitting next to Ichiro, Kuromotoma looks at Yukio while wearing a masterful poker face in spite of the brutal circumstances before her as she thinks “What did you do to get yourself under a microscope Yukio!?”

Meanwhile on the other side of the one way mirror Hanabara stands in front of the mirror holding a burner phone to his ear while quietly yet clearly saying “Yes, I’m watching the interrogation now, if we were right then the serial killer has a Witch on his side.”

“Yes, I’m keeping a close watch on the investigation for any clues as to who the Witch might be.” Hanabara continues after letting the other person finish talking before saying “I understand, I’ll tail this guy if he walks, if he leads me to any leads on the Witch I’ll tell you immediately.”

After finishing his call Hanabara turns off the phone and puts it away as he thinks “I don’t know if this guy has anything to do with the serial killer or even a Witch but I’ll find out and if he is they’re all ours.”

“We know the drone that attacked the dog Akira from XX Tokikawa Avenue, we know you were the one piloting it, we even know you had other drones in the area.” Ichiro states to Yukio calmly yet sternly before saying “The only thing we don’t know is why you would commit animal abuse and fly drones around the city when it is illegal to do so.”

“You forget one cruicial detail, I filed the proper paperwork and got the proper confirmation of permissions from the appropriate ministries 12 days before flying the drones.” Yukio replies before removing copies of the documents from his briefcase and placing them on the table and sliding them over before saying “Not only will you find everything is in order, you’ll find enclosed a picture of the Dog in Question cornering a defenceless cat on a criminally dangerous AC Unit.”

As Ichiro puts on his glasses and goes through the documents not missing a single Hiragana, Katakana or Kanji character as he does while Kuromoto looks at Yukio and questions him by saying “You say there was a ‘Cat’ parched on a ‘Criminally Dangerous AC Unit’ being cornered by the dog, why exactly would you come to the defence of an anonymous animal?”

“If I weren’t talented with Computers from an early age my foster father would have forced me to work on a tuna boat by age 7.” Yukio replies calmly with a serious look before saying “My Biological Father was a corporate raider beating others into financial submission and looting, plundering and pillaging their businesses.”

“What does that have to do with my question?” Kuromoto replies, acting like she doesn’t already know the answer.

Yukio simply ignores what she said and continues by saying “My Older Brother monetized his love of murdering Ants by pouring molten metal into their nests and selling the results as Art, my Older Sister bullied anyone weaker than her to make herself feel better about being bullied herself.”

“If your sob story is meant to excuse your actions it won’t.” Kuromoto replies knowing full well what Yukio is doing and playing along without giving away what she’s doing.

“I hate bullies and I can’t stand seeing someone strong exerting their power over someone weaker than them, that is why I did what I did.” Yukio finishes with a serious look on his face like he honestly believes what he’s saying before saying “So when I was setting up my latest GPS Coordinate based Puzzle Hunt and found a Dog cornering a cat on that AC Unit I couldn’t ignore it.”

Ichiro finishes looking over the documents before pulling out the picture of the AC Unit with the Dog cornering a cat on it before holding it up and saying “Your Motives aside, what evidence do you have that the AC Unit was as Unsafe as you proclaim it to be?”

Yukio removes his phone from his pocket and pulls up a video of the incident and shows it to Ichiro allowing him to see that the dog had the Cat Cornered on the AC Unit which was barely holding onto the walls even without the additional weight of the cat.

Ichiro watches as after the Dog is chased off mere moments after the cat gets off the AC Unit the AC Unit falls to the ground and smashes to pieces dumping pieces of metal all over the alley and leaking coolant leading him to sigh and say “I have no recourse but to agree that the AC Unit was criminally neglected and should have been dealt with long before this incident, I also concede that there was a threat to both animals lives.”

“You do realise that my lawyer could arrange it so I at most have to pay a fine.” Yukio states pointedly as though he were going for Ichiro’s throat with a knife giving him a glimpse of the brutal and shrewd methods he uses in the business world to get stuff done before finishing the job by saying “Knowing that do you really want to press charges knowing a jury will side with me over the defenders of a slumlord?”

Ichiro and Kuromoto go silent as Kuromoto signals Ichiro under the table that she doesn’t believe they can crack this Yukio without a metaphorical hammer.

After receiving Kuromoto’s signal Ichiro signals back his agreement before saying “Mr.Tousuzu, you may go, but do not leave town.”

Yukio gets up out of the chair and collects his things before heading to the door saying “I’ll send you copies of the video later, also, keep the document, it’s just a copy.”

As soon as Yukio closes the door behind him Ichiro’s expression shifts from the calm yet ominously predatory glare he aimed at Yukio as he grabs a chair, raises it high over his right shoulder and swings it wide across the table destroying the Katsudon and lamp as he shouts at the top of his lungs “DAMN IT!!! WHO DOES THAT SMUG BRAT THINK HE IS!!!???”

No sooner than the bowl smashes against the floor Ichiro kicks the tables underside hard enough to launch it into the sub ceiling damaging the panels and partially revealing the actual ceiling above it before the table falls to the ground with a crash as he continues to shout “IF I WEREN’T A POLICE OFFICER I’D TIE HIM TO A POST AND POUND HIS FACE INTO HAMBURGER MEAT!!”

Before anyone can react he throws the chair through the mirror revealing an empty room on the other side before Ichiro shouts “IF THAT BRAT THINKS THIS IS OVER HE’S WRONG!! I AM GOING TO VIVISECT HIS LIFE AND FEED IT TO HIM!!”

As Ichiro howls and roars the remainder of his rage and frustration suddenly Kuromoto asks “Are you OK Tanisuzu?”

“Perfectly fine Kuromoto…” Ichiro replies calmly returning to reality after mentally demolishing the room to calm down before looking right at her calmly and saying “We need a way to get that guy, he’s the Serial Killers Tech Support, I’m sure of it!”

“Even if he is, we have nothing on him other than your hunch and the fact he helped ‘That Cat’ of your brothers.” Kuromoto replies playing the voice of reason in a situation she didn’t think she’d have to replay after Haji was identified when he was still Human.

Ichiro calms down realising she’s right before looking at her and says “You may be right but we must keep eyes and ears on him and keep digging for a connection between him and the Serial Killer.”

“Do we have a Friendly Judge with a Pulse we can ask for a surveillance warrant?” Kuromoto asks curious if they can manage to get eyes and ears on Yukio both physically and electronically.

Ichiro stands up from his seat and begins heading toward the door with a clearly frustrated look as he says “It will not easy after the judge we used last time was murdered but we’ll find one.”

As she stands up from the chair she was sitting in Kuromoto looks at him hiding her worries that he might end up in the crosshairs of the very people she wants to bring down the most after her Mother and Grandmother’s murders before she says “Hopefully you find a suitable Judge, if you can’t I might know a Judge who might be friendly to the case.”

“If worst comes to worst then we’ll try that Judge you know, until then I’ll keep trying to find someone else.” Ichiro replies as he opens the door with a serious look like he doubts they’ll be able to get a Digital Surveillance Warrant.

“Damn it, under these circumstances I can’t warn Haji or Isi about this, I’m gonna need to destroy my burner phone and await a replacement from Isi.” Kuromotoma thinks as she is clearly shaken and frustrated behind her poker face as she walks out of the interrogation room behind Ichiro before thinking “This is a disaster, if they get a digital search warrant before Yukio can bury the evidence we’re potentially all in trouble!”

(3 Hours Later)

As Haji sits on his personal cushion in the living room taking a late afternoon nap fully embracing the hedonism only cats can indulge in without someone getting mad at them for it completely oblivious to what’s going on with Yukio suddenly he hears a repeating ringtone in his head.

As Haji wakes up looking extremely displeased and borderline homicidal recognises the sound and thinks “Why is Isi calling me out of the blue?”

Haji mentally pushes a button answering the call before hearing Isi say “Haji, we have an emergency, I can’t get ahold of Yukio or Kuromotoma and Yukio’s emergency radio silence signal is in play!”

Haji’s eyes suddenly sharpen as his expressions shift from homicidal fury to seriousness and concern before he says “Tell me the details…”

“I tried to get a hold of him earlier to ask what the plan is for the next target while you’re under a microscope but I couldn’t get him.” Isi replies clearly concerned and borderline freaked out at what he’s discovered before saying “After I couldn’t reach him I checked his puzzle listings and found one which has three locations near or at police stations, the pending listing he created as his distress signal.”

“Now that you mention it I can see a countdown labelled ‘time until shutdown’ in the app with my mind's eye.” Haji says as he looks at the Magic App in his mind with which he is talking to Isi and says “This likely means Yukio is either captured or on the enemies radar, either way it’s a problem and we’re going to be unable to talk for a while.”

“What do you want to do until we can get Yukio back in the rotation?” Isi asks pointedly as though he’s asking Haji for his orders.

“Get Kuromotoma a new Burner with a different team’s numbers in it and sanitise yourself before going dark until we get in touch.” Haji replies with a calm tone while his tail betrays him by displaying just how worried he is about this situation before saying “I’ll need to find a way to lead the other team with Kuromotoma’s assistance until Yukio and yourself are able to come back into things, stay safe until then.”

“I understand, I’ll make the arrangements immediately.” Isi replies calmly now assured Haji has a plan to counter the issue of them being unable to act at this time.

While he sits there watching the count down in his mind Haji thinks “If Yukio is exposed then it’s that punk Akira’s fault, killing him in this situation would be satisfying but not wise, guess I’ll lay low and let him be for now.”

“Isi, make sure everyone knows not to go after Akira, I’ll find a way to deal with him before he manages to blow my cover or worse.” Haji states clearly knowing no one who knows him would do anything rash but plays it safe before saying “If worst comes to worst I’ll run away from this hole and make contact with someone via a safe house and establish a new cover that way.”

“Gotcha, I’ll be sure everyone knows not to do anything.” Isi replies knowing why Haji brought it up before saying “I’ll also get our in house vet to ready you a replacement chip, just in case.”

As soon as Isi finishes he cuts off communication and Haji looks out the window and sees Akira patrolling outside the house with his owner holding his leash and thinks “I’ll find a way to get rid of you even if it does require some creativity.”

As he curls back up into a ball on his cushion getting ready to go back to sleep Haji thinks “I’ll leave dealing with Akira for when I can be sure that Cop isn’t watching me, maybe I’ll finally figure out what kind of Manga that clingy creep Yasuo makes.”

The Next Day once again Yukio is sitting in a chair in the interrogation room of the police station as Ichiro stares across the table at him as Yukio casually stares back as he snarkily says “So what, did you enjoy last time so much that you came back for seconds?”

“This brat, he’s playing dumb when he knows our people are executing a search warrant for his home and business.” Ichiro thinks as he glares at Yukio doing everything within his power to fight the urge to reach across the table, grab Yukio by the scalp and bury his face in a bowl of Katsudon.

“Please refrain from making jokes Mr.Tousuzu, this is a deadly serious matter.” Kuromoto states in response to Yukio’s joke while trying to calm Tanisuzu’s frayed nerves due to Yukio’s provocations before looking him in the eye and saying “A Judge and a Prosecutor have been murdered, there’s also been an attempt on a jury member from a case both the Prosecutor and Judge were a part of.”

“So what does that have to do with me, not like you suspect I’m the tech support for some kind of serial killer.” Yukio replies flippantly before his eyes and expression shift to a more sharp and serious expression as he continues “Wait, you actually think that’s the way of it don’t you!”

Ichiro and Kuromoto remain silent as Yukio sits there staring straight at them before glaring at them clearly upset before saying “You jerks! I came here as a cooperating member of the public, I’m out to help you find your man and put him behind bars, case closed, yet this is how you repay me!?”

Yukio stands up defiantly as he glares at them before saying “Unless you’re going to arrest me I’m leaving and even if you do I’m calling my lawyer either way and having them come for your badges for this outrage!!”

Ichiro nearly jumps from his seat ready to get violent with Yukio but stops in his tracks when he feels Kuromoto’s foot lightly pressed on his as a subtle signal to not do anything rash before she signals to let her handle Yukio.

Reluctantly Ichiro replies yes with a signal of his own as Kuromoto looks at Yukio calmly but with a sharpness in her eyes as she says “Calm down and listen, we’re after a killer who may have someone inside your company or someone good enough to breach your security.”

“That’d be a first, no one has ever managed to even scratch my software.” Yukio replies smugly as he sneers at Ichiro and Kuromoto knowing full well Kuromoto is just putting on an act for Ichiro but not letting that stop him.

Kuromoto looks upon Yukio coldly as she pulls a printed copy of some freaky computer code from a folder as she says “You probably recognise this, it’s what is hidden under the dummy code of the black box your closed system software is hidden within.”

“Your point…?” Yukio replies pointedly with an equally icy chill in his voice as he glances at the code realising she’s serious about maintaining her cover even if it means pushing him into a corner.

“You know as well as I do what my point is…” Kuromoto responds with such a chilling tone Yukio almost feels the rooms temperature dropping several degrees as she pulls out a few more files from a box next to her and shows Yukio the files on several other coders who use similar codes as she says “If you can use such codes then so can others, several of these people are hackers on the ICPO’s most wanted list, still think your code can’t be cracked?”

Yukio looks over the code and the files of the unidentified hackers and other users of the code type he uses as he thinks “Damn, she actually managed to corner me.”

“Guess I’ll have to take the subtlety out she’s left me.” Yukio thinks as he lets out a heavy sigh before saying “I hate to admit it but you do have a point, lady cop, guess I’ll have to do a deep dive into my own systems to check for signs of a breach.”

As Kuromoto glares at Yukio ready to turn things around on him to maintain her cover but before she can say a word suddenly someone knocks at the door.

Ichiro gets up from his seat with a look of murderous rage almost as if in the event the person on the other side of the door doesn’t have a good reason to interrupt he’ll drag them in the room, cut off all the recording devices and make them regret they were ever born.

The person on the other side of the door whispers something to Ichiro causing his expression to immediately shift from borderline violent to subtly shocked before he closes the door and walks over to Kuromoto and whispers something in her ear.

After hearing what Ichiro says Kuromoto simply nods and begins to put away all the files she used to pressure Yukio before saying “Mr.Tousuzu, apologies but we must cut this interview short, we will have someone escort you out of the building so please wait here.”

As soon as she’s finished putting the files back in the box Kuromoto stands up and picks up the box before walking out of the room with Ichiro.

As soon as they leave the room Ichiro instructs a uniformed officer to escort Yukio out of the building courteously before he and Kuromoto walk toward a different interview room as Ichiro looks at Kuromoto while whispering “Think he has a connection to the serial killer?”

“Can’t say for sure, he’s definitely arrogant and cocky but he arguably has reason to be.” Kuromoto replies with an eerie calm tone despite her previously icy disposition from the interrogation before curiously saying “He also seemed surprised by the code I showed him, think he was unaware of the existence of those people?”

“I don’t think Salmon are aware of Hawks until they get four eighth talons to the ribs, as for him, he’s an apex predator, he probably knew.” Ichiro replies calmly as he walks toward the interview room with Kuromoto.

“So who is this new lead we picked up?” Kuromoto asks staring curiously at Ichiro in the corner of her eye just barely able to see him past the edge and leg of her glasses.

Ichiro lets out a sigh that makes him seem almost relieved that Kuromoto has switched back to her usual self before gathering his thoughts and replies “I can’t say out here, we can’t risk someone’s phone having been hacked and picking up our conversation.”

The moment they enter the interview room they see a pretty woman in her early 20’s to late teens sitting at the table seemingly waiting for them with a worried and confused look on her face.

As soon as they close the door Ichiro introduces himself and Kuromoto saying “I’m Inspector Tanisuzu Ichiro, this is my partner Kuromoto Ayame, we understand you have a statement you wish to give.”

The woman stares at them confused and perplexed to the point of being at a near loss for words before she says “You mean you’re not my escort out of the building?”

Ichiro’s and Kuromoto’s expressions become those of utter shock and disbelief at the implications of what the woman just said before Kuromoto looks to Ichiro at which point he nods and exits the room without saying a word as Kuromoto sits down.

The moment Ichiro closes the door behind him Kuromoto looks straight at the woman and says “I don’t know for sure what is going on here but myself and my partner were the ones supposed to take your statement so please start with that for now.”

The woman looks at Kuromoto calmly yet still perplexed by what’s happening but takes a breath and calmly follows Kuromoto’s request and answers “I name is Fuyuno Chio, I work as a Maid at the Tousuzu Estate, I’m the only Maid trusted by the Master to clean his private study.”

The woman sits there clearly conflicted about having talked about this once already but being more worried about not telling it now and takes in a deep breath and exhales heavily before continuing “I was worried about telling anyone this but told that last Inspector this, if he was a fake you need to know this too.”

“I was… cleaning… in the Masters Private Study when I disturbed his computer… when I did the screen lit up and I saw a page about Evil Gods of Japan and their activities.” The woman states, stuttering in places and occasionally looking like she’s not sure what to say but choosing her words carefully and swiftly if just slightly so hesitantly.

Kuromoto keeps up her poker face expertly in spite of what she just heard despite the fact on the inside she’s shocked and appalled by what she just heard as she thinks “YUKIO!! Whatever she was actually doing aside, you actually left that open ON YOUR COMPUTER!!? And who is this other Inspector she spoke to!?”

“Do you believe this information will be of help to you?” The woman asks curious yet worried for what will come of having told anyone of what she saw and riddled with feelings of guilt for having betrayed Yukio’s trust in her to allow her to enter and clean such places as his private study.

“I can’t give details but you have my word we’ll put this information to good use.” Kuromoto states as she stands up and extends her hand to the woman and says “Considering we’ve already asked so much of you and made you wait this long I’ll escort you out of the building and safely into a taxi.”

The sight of Kuromoto trying with all her might to show her such consideration, the woman takes Kuromoto’s hand as she stands up and follows her out of the building.

After seeing the woman out of the building into a taxi as she watches it drive off with the woman inside Ichiro approaches Kuromoto and says “Get any good intel out of her?”

“Nothing of immediately obvious value.” Kuromoto replies calmly before glancing at Ichiro out of the corner of her eye and curiously asking “Did you manage to track down whoever questioned her first?”

“Not quite, they crept in while no one was looking and someone disabled the cameras too.” Ichiro replies with an unsubtle look of displeasure and borderline enraged tone as he continues with an almost frightening scowl creeping across his face “Someone snuck into the interrogation room and took that brat away before the uniforms could escort him out!”

Kuromoto very nearly loses her poker face to the sheer shock and utter disbelief at what she just heard as she thinks “YUKIO’S BEEN KIDNAPPED!!!???”

After taking a literal second to compose herself Kuromoto glances back at Ichiro before saying “I know you wouldn’t joke about that, any idea who could be behind it or where they took him?”

Ichiro shakes his head slightly as he replies with great displeasure and anger “I have no evidence of who did it, I have suspects but no evidence to back up my reasoning.”

Kuromoto clenches her fists hard enough she nearly breaks the skin of her palms as she replies “Then we’d better get that proof or bad things will happen…”

“What do you mean?” Ichiro enquiries as he glances at Kuromoto curious as to what she means.

“I’ll tell you the details later but I’ve been conducting my own investigation since I joined the force.” Kuromoto replies calmly yet with an unspoken tone that hints at her true feelings before she says “It’s to do with why I joined the force, something I’ve been on the fence about telling you about for a while.”

Ichiro sighs heavily as he puts his hand gently on her shoulder for a moment before removing it as he says “I figured you had something like that going on, I’ve been waiting for you to bring it up, we’ll talk somewhere with less ears.”

Kuromoto nods as she turns around hiding the colour of her eyes behind her glasses not wanting Ichiro to notice they’ve changed due to her heightened emotional state as she whispers to him “Brace yourself for this reveal when we talk later, it’s going to be hard to believe even though it’s true.”

To Be Continued