SakuraMay 10, 5:23 am, Tokyo, j.a.pan
Drip. Drip. Drip.
Sakura could hear her own breath as she walked deeper into the darkness. Her only source of light was the flashlight on her phone, and it only lit up a few meters in front of her. She desperately wished that she had a better source of light, and cursed Jason for setting this up.
Because all of this was definitely his fault. No matter what he said to defend himself.
Sakura would never forgive him.
***
Sakura
May 5, 10:22 am, Tokyo, j.a.pan
The night before, Sakura listened to the audio file Michi had sent her. Sat at her station in the Internet Cafe, headphones over her head, she tapped her fingers lightly on the table as Jason spoke to her.
He had given up all pretense of talking to the detective. He was literally just calling her out now.
"One of the monsters you released escaped from the lab," he growled. "If you want to help me find it, meet me at the Zos.h.i.+gaya Cemetary tomorrow at 10:30 am. Just you and me.
Which was why, of course, she came with Michi.
Both of them were dressed as conspicuously as possible; they had gone to a costume store and bought the loudest "disguises" possible. Sakura was dressed as a Tokugawa Era n.o.blewoman, complete with the make-up, and Michi decided that he would dress up as a Sentai Hero. Without the helmet.
Of course, they couldn"t just go to cemetery and simply wait until someone showed up. So they brought cleaning supplies, and headed over to the gravestone of Sakura"s friend Ai. Since they were here, they might as well pay their respects.
The day was bright and warm; sunlight filtering through the leaves onto the graves. A cool breeze ran through the cemetery, rewarding the hard working visitors. It was the perfect weather for a grave-cleaning, or a picnic.
By the time Jason showed up, the two of them were already the center of attention. Cemetery goers were all looking at them, some shaking their heads as they cleaned and pruned the graves they came for.
Not all of them were looking disapprovingly though. A few seemed merely amused, and one old man looked strangely happy.
Jason, predictably, looked disgusted.
"You would dress like that to your friend"s grave?" he sneered as he walked closer. He was wearing a typical, men-in-black suit, with the shades to match.
"Ai was killed by people like you," said Sakura, pulling a few stray weeds off her friend"s grave. "The best way we can respect her, is by not giving you a chance to do the same to us."
Jason scoffed, and Sakura looked up at him through the corner of her eye. He didn"t seem uncomfortable at all, but he did put his hands in his pockets. She wondered what he was planning.
He didn"t say anything more until she and Michi were done with cleaning, and even waited until after they paid their respects to talk to them again.
"You"ve caused quite a big mess this time," he said as Sakura and Michi got up.
Sakura raised an eyebrow.
"You"re blaming us for your lab conducting illegal experiments?" she asked sarcastically.
Jason clicked his tongue, and stepped closer.
"Back off," said Michi, stepping in front of Sakura.
Jason raised an eyebrow. The wind blew softly between the three of them, Sakura"s dress fluttering.
"Finally grew some b.a.l.l.s, eh, nancy boy?"
"What do you want, Jason?" said Sakura. She put a hand on Michi"s shoulder, and he moved aside.
Jason pulled himself up to his full height.
"I want to collaborate," he said. "We"ve lost one of our...experiments. I want your help to get it back."
"Why?"
It had to be some sort of trap. Why else would Neurix"s dedicated monster catcher ask for her help?
"Because you created this problem," answered Jason. "And if you don"t take responsibility, people will die."
"If you don"t solve this problem, you"ll be exposed," said Sakura.
Jason scoffed.
"You really think we"re the ones who will suffer if this gets out?" he chuckled. "As long as the subject is out there, it"s not us that"s going to suffer. And no one is going to believe that the thing killing people is some half-human, half-animal hybrid. Not even with video proof."
Sakura balled a fist. She knew he was right.
"And you have that whole bleeding heart moral thing," Jason went on, waving a hand as he spoke. "So you"re definitely gonna help us with this."
Sakura simply stared at Jason. She narrowed her eyes. She just couldn"t figure him out.
What was his game? What did he want?
"What do you get out of this?" she asked outright. She just didn"t understand why he was trying to get her to find the monster instead of doing it himself.
"Me? I get to relax," he said. "I have a job, a girlfriend. I work hard. Sometimes, I want a break."
"No, seriously," said Sakura. "Why would Neurix"s Head of Security, the guy whose job is to find monsters, want me to find monsters for him?"
Jason tilted his head. He seemed confused by the question.
"Why are you asking me something like that?" he asked back. "Why else would I want you to do it? Cause I don"t want to."
Sakura grit her teeth, her nails biting into her palm to the point where they were leaving marks. Jason really was the absolute worst type of guy. Privileged, completely self-involved, and lacking any sort of empathy whatsoever.
Was he really only doing this because he could?
As much as it seemed in-character for him to be so callous, Sakura felt like that wasn"t the whole story. There was something more...but if he wasn"t going to tell after all this prodding, then he wasn"t planning on saying anything.
So Sakura changed tactics.
"What"s in it for us then?" she asked, crossing her arms. At that exact moment, a breeze pa.s.sed by them, causing her dress to flutter once more. In her period clothing, it made her seem like some kind of ancient deity, demanding payment for a blessing.
"You get to keep your lives," said Jason magnanimously, arms wide and grinning.
"We"ve already got those," said Sakura. "It"s not like you can keep us locked up or anything."
Jason"s grin disappeared. He looked like he was about to say something then, stopped himself.
"I guess that is true," he said. "You two are pretty slippery."
He stroked his chin in mock thought.
"How about this," he began. "If you help me with this, then I don"t go after this Bunta Arakawa."
The entire world seemed to freeze. Michi and Sakura"s eyes went wide.
Jason grinned again, glad that he was able to get under their skin.
"Oh, you think we wouldn"t find his LINE?" he gloated. "Or his bank accounts? Or his numerous criminal convictions? How does that feel, by the way, accusing others of being criminals while harboring and using a criminal for your own personal gains?"
"Bunta was exonerated of all changes," Michi growled. "And he did nothing wrong."
"That"s not what the court said," Jason tutted, wagging a finger. "Didn"t his own parents kick him out after they found out what he did?"
G.o.d, how Sakura wanted to punch this man in the face.
"He was a teenager," Michi spat. "He didn"t know better."
Jason snorted.
"We"re not here to discuss morality," he said. "We"re here to strike a deal; you help us get our a.s.set back, and we"ll forget everything we know about your friend Bunta and his parents."
Sakura was practically vibrating with anger. This wasn"t a deal, this was blackmail.
"Fine," she spat. "We"ll help you get your monster back. But-"
"But?" Jason interrupted. "No. You misunderstand; you"re not in charge here. I am."
"Of course," said Sakura. "But that means you"ll need to guide us. We need information on the monster, how it moves, habits. Y"know, things that would come in handy for tracking it."
Jason hesitated a moment before waving it away.
"You think I"m that unreasonable? Please. I"m not the dictator of North Korea," he said, waving Sakura"s demand away. "You"ll get everything you need. Just as long as you stay in line."
The threat wasn"t even subtle. Sakura nodded, and Jason turned to walk away.
"Oh, and we need this done ASAP," he said, snapping his fingers. "You"ve got three days. We"ve got deadlines to meet."
"Three d"
Sakura almost snapped. If it weren"t for Michi there to hold her back, she probably would"ve picked up Ai"s picture frame and used it to bash Jason"s stupid face in. She stopped struggling once he was too far to reach, but Michi only let her go once he was out of sight.
"That G.o.dd.a.m.n b-"
She let out a torrent of swears as she furiously stomped around Ai"s grave, causing everyone to look at her. The sight was almost something out of a period drama; the rich princess losing her temper around a grave and letting out her emotions. It would"ve been entertaining if it weren"t real.
After a while though, she got tired, and instead settled for kneeling in front of Ai"s grave and angrily punching the earth.
"What does he want?" she said, still seething with rage. That was the most annoying thing; the fact with all he had said, she wasn"t able to figure out what he was up to.
"No idea," said Michi, looking off to where Jason had disappeared. "But..."
He trailed off, frowning. Sakura glared at him, about to snap, but held back. She took a deep breath; it was okay, she was calm. She just needed to relax about this. Just...relax...
"Sakura, we can use this," said Michi, once she had calmed slightly.
"How?" Sakura snapped. Evidently, the slight calm she had regained wasn"t too deep.
"Who said we had to give the monster over once we found it?" said Michi, grinning.
For a moment, Sakura looked dumbfounded.
"But even if we show people they wouldn"t...believe..."
Her eyes grew wide as she realized what Michi was saying.
"We"re getting a researcher, right?" said Michi. "So if we-"
"-if we get them to actually dissect and look at the monster," Sakura continued on, her anger flipping into excitement, "then it wouldn"t just be video evidence!"
"We"d have a real monster sample to show," said Michi.
"Verified by someone trusted!" Sakura clapped her hands together in excitement.
But soon, she was in thought again.
"Jason would be a fool if he hadn"t thought of this angle already," she said, troubled. "Maybe that"s part of his plan."
"Then we"ll just have to outsmart him," said Michi confidently. "We"re already doing it. What"s the worst that could happen?"
Sakura smiled, and conceded the point. She felt a rush of grat.i.tude towards Michi; he really was a true friend.
Little did she know how much pain this one decision would cause the both of them.