09:30

"Alright, then let's try a different approach. Supposedly, you got into some trouble with three different groups. In one night, one go. Then in the next twenty-four hours, they all show up on our doorstep, already secured and ready to be dealt with."

"Now, Miss...?"

"...I don't have a last name..."

"Well then, is there something you'd like to be addressed as?"

"Akane...just Akane..."

"Alright. Akane, will you please connect the dots for me, of the events that occurred that night?"

"...am I in trouble?"

"Well, let's take a step back, shall we? An unknown woman, hidden by mask and hood, is discovered in the back alley beside the station. And just minutes after, over three hundred men are nearly dead, and dropped on the stairs of our building. Surely, you understand why we're all...concerned, yes?"

"That doesn't answer my question."

"There's the long answer, and the short one. Which would you like to hear?"

"...the honest truth."

"You might very well be in a sticky situation, Akane. But without details, what happens next is..to be determined. What you tell me this evening, right now, helps us both, which is why I humbly suggest you try to give me something. Anything at all. Is that alright with you?"

"...is there really a point in asking that?"

"What do you mean?"

"You speak as if I have a choice. The second I was forced onto my knees, with your men dislocating my shoulders, and dragged into a cell covered in feces...any freedom I had left was automatically stripped away from me...and yet you keep asking me if I'm alright with spilling my guts out to a stranger I've never once met in my life?? At most, even if I told you everything, what real benefit do you get?!"

"Would you be put more at ease if I told you I understand your current predicament? That I understand how you feel?"

"..."

"Akane, if you want the honest truth, then yes. You are, in short, trouble. You don't get a simple slap on the wrist and get to walk away from all this. What you caused is all over the news. Reporters are practically shaking in their chairs as they clack on their keyboards during the late hours, while my team of exhausted men and women are being forced to deal with your mess. Paperwork is stacking up, cells are being occupied, and questions are never stopped to being asked. Moreover, there are more gangs out there in this city that know of what the mysterious woman has done, and they are no doubt infuriated, wouldn't you say?"

"I don't know, but to me, it sounds like I just helped you with your job."

"The very fact that you are so oblivious to gives me the unnecessary confirmation. You're ignorance and cocky attitude is rather amusing, I say.

Now, I don't know what your goal is, but you clearly hadn't even begun to consider the consequences of your foolish, and utterly ridiculous actions."

"...I prefer this than your 'nice guy' act..."

"Duly noted. But back to the matter at hand, whether you want to cooperate or not is not up to you. We have the resources to make sure that whatever knowledge you contain will be poured out into our hands at will. Whether you decide to make the process quicker, is entirely up to you."

...

"...She was being...difficult..."

"What do you mean? Who?"

"Then again...she was always...that type of person...

"

...

"Gangs, mafias, and now raiders? Don't you think you're going a little too far now?"

"Rei! You know this kind of stuff if exciting to me! Besides, it's a small little organization, this time. Think of it like...uh...like a secret, nerdy high school drum circle!"

"A secret, nerdy, high school drum circle? Do you even hear yourself?"

"Aww please! Ciel!"

"...?..."

"You want to fight them with me right?"

"...Zzz..."

"CIEL!!"

"Look, I won't help you if you decide to let your stupidity overpower your sense of, oh I don't know, logic?"

"First ofall, what do you mean by my stupidity??"

"Fine. Recklessness."

"Not better. Anyway, it won't take long and-"

"Regardless of whether it'll take an hour or a week, the risk of failure and getting caught is what really matters. If we go on this little heist of yours, there's no way we won't get caught."

"And how can you be so sure?"

"Ever since the Twins took on W.S.I, the entire city's been on high alert."

"So, what? The mafia are looking after us?"

"They're not looking for us! They're trying to annihilate us!"

"Well, I mean depending on who it is-"

"I'll kill you before."

"..."

"Until the twins tell me that it's safe, we're under an indefinite hiatus. No more going out unless it's absolutely necessary. No association with any of the other organizations, and no suspicious activity. Got it?"

"Yeah...okay."

"Ciel'll keep an eye on you."

"WHAT?! Why is HE the one babysitting ME?? He just sleeps all day!"

"Exactly. He doesn't make trouble, stumble into the house all bloodied and bruised, then pass out in the kitchen."

"Hey, it was one time!"

"And what's your point?"

"Yeah, yeah, alright. Totally thanking you for your oh so helpful help!"

"Shut it."

...

"Exactly how does this help-"

"Geisbush, chief's asking for you."

"Sigh...alright. Take her back to her cell for me."

"Bye."

"...bye..."

...

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

"I KNOW! OK?!"

"Sigh...then let's hear it."

...

"I wanted to go after the raiders. After the last few months, all the action and our successes, I didn't want to just, stop. It felt like we were finally getting somewhere. We got closer. I didn't want that to stop...so I wanted to push it..."

"She told me about your break. What happened to that?"

"...I snuck out."

"I know you're still a teen-"

"WEREN'T YOU LISTENING?? It's not that!"

"Yeah, sure."

"Ok, maybe it's a little involved, but shut up! This is serious. I didn't go out to be rebellious and naïve. I did it to-"

"And where'd that get you? Akane? Ciel?"

"DON'T INTERRUPT ME-"

"No, because your excuses aren't defending you at all. Because of you, Akane is sleeping in a cell and Ciel's gone MIA! Whatever stupid reason you came up with to do all this, it doesn't justify the means at all! Did you learn nothing from-from all of this??"

"..."

"Just-tell me what happened and most importantly, tell me the plan."

First drafted: 5/30/2021

Uploaded time: 10/19/2021 | 03:06 | Tuesday