Accusation

"Oh, Ciao, Ryo!" Jinni's gleeful and expressive voice nearly startled Ryo as he descended to the living room. The fresh aroma of crispy bacon and ginger chives somen noodles became the wake-up call to Ryo's appetite, for he had hardly eaten after his forced intrusion on Genesis Laboratories. His keen observations about the humans preserved in the tanks were still fresh in his mind, and he could hardly contain himself to speak about it during his first Sunlight meeting. "Want some lunch? You should eat before we start our meeting!"

Naoto sat beside Jinni wearing a casual plaid T-shirt and black jeans. He sipped some black coffee and continued eating a basic combination of eggs, bacon, and hash browns. He also had his mug, plate, and utensils that he used to clear himself of other potential germs. Ryo had expected him to eat more Japanese-style foods, but it was endearing to see someone of Japanese descent try different cultured foods.

"Hey man," Naoto greeted Ryo with a simple quick wave. "You slept in. We were worried you might have died overnight."

Ryo looked into Naoto's eyes to see if he was still phased by his comment about his potential sister. Nothing was clear at all. Naoto did a perfect job of hiding it if it was real.

Jinni slapped Naoto's arm to tease him. "Oh, don't be ridiculous," She laughed. "I took good care of Ryo last night. We had some soup to go with it too!"

Naoto slammed his mug against the table, causing coffee to spill out. "Hey, I told you before to stop touching me!" He yelled at the thought of her germs piling on his skin.

"Hey, settle down," Claude said while focusing on washing the dishes. He wore his Mountains uniform and apron while drying some washed dishes with a towel. "Ryo-boy. Go ahead and eat. Plates are already on the table."

"Thanks," Ryo said, sitting next to Naoto and Jinni. He grabbed a plate and began placing eggs and bacon into it. The flat-screen television in the living room played a news channel that aired at noon every day, providing breaking news headlines. One of the first to appear was a situation involving a car accident in the Virgo District, stockpiling numerous black vans against an abandoned factory. Even the news anchor did not explain the evidence behind it, as they claimed there were insufficient details regarding the cause of the crash.

"The hell is this?" Naoto said after sipping his coffee. "Car accidents in Virgo? That's rare."

"Oh, terrible," Jinni said, looking over to Naoto. "Hmm, is this a job for Naoto? You are the expert in collecting evidence, of course!"

"Nah, leave it to the higher-ups," Naoto said, sluggishly leaning his head against the dining table. "I think we'd have to take full responsibility if Rose Accel caught us trying to solve a case without having any evidence. Better not dip our toes in that stuff before they do."

"Rose Accel?" Ryo asked, unfamiliar with the phrase.

"Oh, right," Naoto said. "Forgot to say we've got tons of Sunlight headquarters around, but the main one's in the Gemini District. Rose Accel's the chief of Sunlight, and she's the one that makes the calls to start cases based on evidence. She's got a weird name, I know. Everyone's afraid of getting close to her."

Ryo tried his best to soak in the information Naoto was giving him about Sunlight.

"Anyway…" Naoto shrugged and rested his cheek on his hand. "Speaking of higher-ups, where the hell's Akai? The dude's always late. Getting tired of that man's shit."

"Who knows…" Jinni said, finishing her meal. "Oh, Ryo, why don't you go and fetch your sister? I know Naoto's too afraid to call her down…"

"Hey, shut up!" Naoto yelled.

"What's wrong with Sumire?" Ryo asked, curious to know more about their stance on his sister.

"What, you didn't know?" Naoto said. "Jeez, I guess you've been treated like a prince your entire life. She is your brother, after all. Man, I wish she could treat the rest of us like the way she treats you. She's a bit rough on the edges sometimes. Super obnoxious and brash. I guess it has to do with whatever's been biting her ass recently about some personal stuff."

Jinni chuckled. "I think you'd want to bite her ass instead, non è Vero?" She said.

"I said, shut up!" Naoto nearly threw his fork at Jinni's silly behavior. Ryo noticed that Naoto was blushing and acting flustered in response to Jinni's playful teasing. He deduced that Naoto had a childish affectionate crush for Sumire, which he could understand. "Just go get her already," He told Ryo as he dunked his head on the table covered with his quivering arms. "Food's starting to get cold.

"Aww, is someone trying to care now?" Jinni teased once more, chuckling on the sidelines.

Ryo stood up from his seat and proceeded to the stairs as he heard more of Naoto's incandescent shouting from the dining table about Jinni's playful teasing. He passed by the sparring room, designed like an arena stadium with a wide floor for long-term endurance and movement. From where he stood, an impenetrable special glass wall barricaded the arena. The room was made out of obsidian and teal-colored dense and durable alloy that withstood hefty blows and smashes for damage control. Beyond the testing chamber containing all of the specific controls and gadgets needed to alter the arena was a football field-sized combat playground. Certain features of the arena could be altered, such as gravity, weight, atmospheric changes, and visual fidelity.

Ryo then passed by the gym, where Claude, Natia, and Sumire would frequently exercise for training purposes. Ryo understood that staying fit was vital for the police, as inspecting dangerous sites for evidence required some extent of flexibility and muscle mass to combat against criminals if they were present.

Ryo located Sumire's room on the second floor, next to Jinni's. However, before he could step inside the hallway, he heard a private conversation between her and Natia that he chose not to intrude. Instead, he eavesdropped behind the nearest wall.

"I had no idea what you were thinking about bringing in another Nakai," Natia's dull and monotonous voice spoke out with her back turned against Sumire. "I've had enough of you and your people. Am I going to have to castrate the fuck out of him so you can stay out of my way?"

"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," Sumire replied to Natia's cold statement. "He came here because he needs a place to stay and grow. Your job is to help newcomers. Do your job before you talk shit."

"Oh, so now we're a rental complex," Natia said. "I'm not inclined to help your kind if all you do is stay in my way. No doubt he's going to be exactly a pain in the ass like you. What pisses me off is how he got his hands on that V2 nanosuit. You know I deserve that shit more than he does. And I'll take it from him and you before you lay your hands on it after Naoto's done with it."

"What kind of competitive fantasy are you living in?" Sumire said, placing her hand on her hips.

"Don't be such a narcissist. We're not here to play games and screw around. We're part of a-"

"Yeah, whatever," Natia interrupted. "You Nakais are all the same. You always have shit in their lives that makes other people's lives much harder. I'm just surprised he hasn't driven you insane yet. Nine years of dealing with a child is a long time. Not only did you fuckers bomb my entire country-"

"Sumire," Ryo stepped out from his hiding position and called for his sister to stop them from proceeding any further. Ryo's eyes traced themselves automatically to Natia, who slanted her eyes in aggression and contempt. To play it off as if he had never eavesdropped, Ryo pretended that he had just arrived to request Sumire to come down with him. "The others made lunch. It'll get cold." He said.

"I'll be right there," Sumire said. Her eyes were lifeless and her voice was nonchalant, no doubt from the insults that Natia threw at her without remorse. She sped over to Ryo's side as Natia disappeared back into her room without another word. Both were unaware that Ryo had been listening, which allowed Ryo to know why Natia was so cold-blooded and hostile towards them.

"Sorry about that. We were just talking about some personal stuff."

"I see," Ryo said, wanting to hold in the fact that he eavesdropped. He knew now was not a perfect time to bring up the vocal conflict between the two. "Let's join the others downstairs. They're expecting us."

"Right," Sumire said, snapping her fingers with a smile. "Then after, it's meeting time."