Chapter 17
Yagami yawned as she looked at the clock, finding to her surprise that it was already late for a Monday. She reminded herself that it was Greenery Day, thus she had no need to wake up early. Still reluctant to give up her new routine, she dragged herself out of bed and went to freshen up. Once in the kitchen, she saw Rin seated at the table, engrossed in a book that turned out to be her own picture book. Rin’s face was both soft and earnest, her eyes moving as if reading the white paper like text. Yagami felt another yawn rise, barely stifling it and making Rin aware of her presence.
“Oh Kou, you’re finally awake!” she said while rapidly closing the book, Yagami ignoring it though in favor of her sleepiness. She sat down in one heavy movement opposite Rin, giving a nod.
“Morning to you too. What’s gotten you so invested in old memories?”
Rin’s eyes became wistful for a moment, before a smile covered it up.
“Just having a quick journey. It’s not bad to look back at what’s happened in the past and remember what you learned from it.”
Yagami raised an eyebrow at the phrasing.
“You put it in a interesting way. What did you find in there that you wanted to remember?”
“Nothing much.” she answered, though Yagami could tell that apart from her attitude.
“Rin…” she began, Rin looking uncomfortable before relenting.
“Oh fine. Here.”
She opened the book at a page showing some of their last memories in high school. Apart from their class photo, Rin and Yagami standing right next to each other in the back with wide smiles on their faces, there was another photo that they had taken with Futaba on their last day before departing for Tokyo. It had been at the train station, Rin and Yagami’s luggage visible in the background while the trio hugged each other. Rin’s mother had taken the picture for them, having come by to send them off. Yagami’s mind clouded as she briefly thought back to her last meeting with her mother. She pushed the memory aside though and focused on the trio hugging, Futaba’s smile accompanied by the most tears. Melancholy settled gently on her heart as she recalled the many heartfelt words they had exchanged.
“We’ve grown quite a bit since then, haven’t we Rin?”
“Yes, Kou.” Rin murmured while stroking the picture of the trio, her own expression nostalgic, “It has been a long time. I can still remember my time there so vividly though.”
“Really?” Yagami asked with genuine interest, “I can barely remember it. Apart from it being fun with you two.”
Rin laughed, though it sounded hollow. Her face soon turned solemn again as she asked:
“Tell me Kou, is it bad for things to change?”
Not having expected the question, Yagami stared at her for a moment in silent contemplation. She sighed and stood up, heading to the coffee machine and preparing the first cup.
“Rin, I don’t know, honestly.” she began with the most honest answer she could give, not needing to see Rin’s reaction as she swore she could hear the cringe. She pressed on nevertheless:
“This last month has been nothing but a rollercoaster for me, thinking back on it. I mean, I start out with a near mental breakdown, only to end up befriending Anders, the weirdest person I know. Everything since then has just been...so hectic. I haven’t had time really to think over anything, not between work, sleep, work, eat, work.”
“You said ‘work’ thrice there Kou.” Rin remarked with a small giggle, her mood evidently a bit better. Yagami was glad that something at least was working out.
“I know, but it’s true. Somehow, I’ve gotten the feeling that things are changing more quickly by the day and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. It’s a bit frightening, to be honest.”
“I know the feeling.”
Yagami sensed the undertone in Rin’s voice, the two of them likely thinking back to the same event at the beginning of last week. Aware though that she couldn’t have a repeat of what almost happened a few weeks ago, she steeled herself and spoke up:
“Rin, can you be honest with me?”
She turned with the black coffee to find Rin chalk-white, her fingers trembling slightly as she held onto the chair. Concern briefly washed over Yagami for her as she placed the cup down, before Rin squeezed out:
“I will try, Kou.”
“Thank you, Rin.”
There was no hesitation between their voices, no attempt to hide or delay the topic that was being touched upon. It had likely come up indirectly before, probably so often that Yagami had no idea where to begin. She never had to think about her friendship with Rin in any way differently than before. Now however, with everything that’s happened, she felt it was time that she herself grew out of the shell that the two of them feebly tried to maintain.
Rin partook in a deep sip of the mug first, draining over half before placing the drink down. She took a couple of deep breaths, leaving a hand over her chest, before beginning:
“Kou, since when have we known each other?”
Unwillingly raising an eyebrow, Yagami answered:
“Since elementary school at least.”
“Do you remember what happened that first month when we entered?”
Yagami made an earnest effort to recall what she meant. It took her a while, Rin remaining patient, but she eventually recalled the memory.
“You mean that group assignment we had to do in art class? Where we drew each other?”
Rin nodded silently.
“It was the moment which changed my time in school forever. I didn’t have it easy with my countryside background. I thought that you were also one of those who judged me for it. But when you showed me the drawing you made of me, I couldn’t speak. It was so beautiful, so realistic even though we were both still at an elementary level. Mine didn’t even compare. You handed yours to me and said ‘Let’s be friends. Then I can draw you when you’re smiling’.”
Rin’s expression had grown warmer as she spoke, her eyes dancing with emotion.
“It was the kindest thing anyone had ever said to me. I thought I was never going to make friends with anyone. But you just walked up to me and wanted to become my friend without question. That meant more to me than you could ever imagine Kou.”
“You’re making me blush, stop it.”
“No, I’m serious. Ever since then, we’ve always been together. You kept at it with your drawing, making so many beautiful pictures and characters that I can’t remember them all anymore. When you told me you wanted to join Eagle Jump in high school, I had no doubts you were going to make it. But, I then realised that I was probably not going to be able to keep up. I knew you were going to do extremely well, but what about me? So I got in contact with Hazuki myself and had her hire me as well with everything I had at my disposal.”
“Wait.” Yagami interrupted, ”That’s the first I hear of it! Why did you try so hard to get in with me? I thought that was pure luck that we got in at the same time.”
“I never told you because I was too embarrassed. How was I supposed to tell the person I admired the most that I followed her journey merely to be by her side?”
Something stood out for Yagami with the way Rin had said ‘admired’.
“Rin, what do you mean with ‘admired’?”
A shadow flitted over Rin’s expression.
“That’s the wrong word. It wasn’t admiration like Aoba. It wasn’t appreciation like Hazuki. It…”
She halted, her hands clinging tightly to her clothing as if they were constricting her. A nervous gulp escaped Yagami, sensing the tension in the atmosphere.
“Kou, since I first met you, I…”
A final breath, a quick flutter of the eyelids, one last glance.
“I’ve wanted to be more than your friend. Much, much more than that.”
The words had fallen. No more illusions, no more hiding. Feelings that had been lying dormant for years were now exposed to the only party in need of hearing them. Rin began to shake, clearly on the precipice of running far, far away. Not a word was said for what felt like a solid minute. She battled to keep a clear head, but the reveal had caused numerous topics in her mind to overturn. She had felt it, knew it, sensed it every now and then across their time together. And yet, she had always kept it at an arm’s distance from her, not because of outright rejection. She gathered herself and began to speak in a somewhat hesitant tone:
“Rin, I... thank you for being so honest with me.”
Rin only nodded, not looking in her direction at all.
“I’m happy. Happy that you feel that way about me. I... never had this before.”
“I know.”
Yagami could have misheard, but she swore she heard an iota of pride in Rin’s voice.
“But I also don’t know how to go through with this. I’m sorry but… I never thought of you like that. You were and still are my best friend, more so than any other. I felt like I knew what you were doing all the time as well, but I simply avoided it because I was afraid.”
“Kou?”
“I was afraid that I would lose what we had, what we were between each other, if we should ever reach this stage. I don’t have a problem with you feeling this way, but… I’m not sure I can agree right away.”
There it was. The answer she knew from so many bad soap operas, the answer that gave so many fictional people heartbreak because they presumed mountains from molehills. She bit her lip as she watched Rin, who slowly turned to her with a gaze that both betrayed nothing and revealed everything.
“I...see. So this…”
“I can’t say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to you yet, Rin.” Yagami interrupted, “I don’t know if that’s how I feel right now. So please, give me a bit of time. I will give you an answer, I promise. But for now…”
Yagami couldn’t help it. She gave a nervous laugh before moving up to Rin and embracing her. Rin jumped slightly, before she reciprocated the motion. Yagami spoke softly with her as they remained locked together:
“Whatever happens from here on Rin,” she began, her voice gaining encouragement as she went on, “know that I never want to lose you. You will always be a part of my life which I can never replace. As much as I helped you, you have done the same for me. So until I can answer you, please remain by my side as much as you can.”
Rin gave no answer, apart from tightening her grip on Yagami and giving subdued sobs from herself. The latter knew that she wasn’t being kind to Rin with this, regardless of what her end decision would be. Rin deserved better than that, it was obvious. Yagami hated herself for being indecisive, but her feelings were unclear right now.
They remained together for another long while, the clock on the wall gradually passing time away, before Rin slowly separated herself from Yagami. Her face was somewhat smeared with tears, her eyes clearly reddened. Yet a smile was there which didn’t look forced, or unhappy.
“Kou...thank you.”
“What? Why are you thanking me now?”
“For being who you are. You never changed, even from when we first met. You were always so kind, so careful with others you were close with. I’m glad that you’re still yourself.”
“Of course I am.” she answered, “I wouldn’t change who I was for anything.”
“That’s it!” Rin said with a surprising amount of enthusiasm, “It’s that part of you which
I…”
The words remained stuck in her throat, causing her to blush a deep maroon. Aware she was fighting to say the words, Yagami spoke up:
“Rin, don’t rush it. I told you, I will give you an answer. I won’t try and keep you in suspense. But for now, maybe you should freshen up. It’s Greenery Day after all. Maybe…”
She was just about to suggest heading out on a walk when her phone rang, to both their surprise. Yagami picked it up and looked at the caller name in surprise.
“Who is it, Kou?”
“It’s Fuba. Why’s she calling?”
“Oh dear, and I still sound like a mess. I’ll be back in a minute.”
Yagami nodded as Rin excused herself, answering the call:
“Hey Fuba, what’s…”
“Don’t talk, listen.”
An icy silence reigned on the call. Yagami had never expected it, Futaba’s tone even more serious than when she had called to warn about the cyber attack. So she remained silent as Futaba took a deep breath on the other end.
“Yagi, be honest with me. How was Boss handling his first week?”
Surprised, Yagami took a moment to answer:
“Going more than well. He finished the work I gave him in exactly the time…”
“I don’t mean that! He could take over as CEO anywhere in the world if he wanted. I want to know how he ‘felt’ about his week. Did you ask him?”
“Of course I did. He’s been having a great time so far. Everybody’s accepted him, even Rin. He looked really happy.”
“I see. That explains a lot.”
“What does? Fuba?”
“Yagi, I’m forwarding you a message. Look at it before saying anything.”
Perturbed by the way Futaba was behaving, Yagami received the message and opened it while keeping her on speakerphone. She froze however as she read the contents.
“Yagi, I know you’re in shock, but listen to me…”
“What the hell is this?” Yagami nearly yelled, a somewhat refreshed-looking Rin twitching in surprise as she turned the corner into the kitchen.
“Kou, what’s wrong?”
“Oh good, Rin’s there. Look for yourself. I needed a minute to stop yelling myself.”
Rin nervously crossed the room until she was able to catch the message, giving a small gasp.
The message was a simple photo, depicting Anders’ desk at work with a rectangular slip of paper on it, clearly stating his letter of resignation. A sketch of Boldur was drawn on the corner, giving the same apologetic bow as the one Yagami had seen when he had written to her about his business trip. What really set her off though was the title of the message, stating ‘Pass this on to Yagami and the rest of Eagle Jump please’. Her hands began to shake as she tried to make sense of the situation, yet without a hold to grab onto. Futaba’s voice on the phone was faint to her despite being on speakerphone:
“Yagi, Rin, you two need to help me figure out what happened. Boss won’t answer any of my calls or messages, he turned his damned phone off. I have no idea where he could be. You need to find him before he vanishes.”
“Fuba,” Rin began, “Just what…?”
“I don’t know Rin! It’s making me madder by the second. All this effort and he just goes and throws it away like always! I’m having the guys from the office search for him as well right now, but the more the better. I don’t have anybody in the police either so I can’t ask them to look just yet. You need to figure out where he went.”
Another voice echoed in the background by Futaba, who removed her head slightly from the phone to say:
“Get down there then and search the place if somebody saw him! Rin, Yagi, I need you on this! Don’t let Boss get away!”
Yagami wasn’t about to end the call without having the biggest question in her mind answered.
“Fuba, hold on! What did you mean with ‘like always’?”
The two of them could hear Futaba’s click of her tongue, before she began speaking at a pace almost beyond their ability to comprehend:
“I’ll say this much! Boss has and always will be an idiot! Now go find him!”
The phone hung up with a symbolic smash of the receiver on the unit, leaving Yagami and Rin with perturbed looks. It didn’t take long for Yagami to slap herself in the face to wake up. She grabbed her coat and headed to the door, Rin close behind.
“Kou, do you have any idea what he’s doing?”
Yagami turned around, evidently angrier in appearance than she felt based on Rin’s response.
“I have no clue and that drives me up a wall. Come on, we need to call the others and have them look.”
“But..”
Yagami rushed to get her shoes on, her hand on the doorknob within seconds.
“Rin, we’re talking about Anders here! He’s part of the team, we…”
She stopped as she bumped into an obstacle before her door. She looked up to find herself face with a duo of people in black suits, their appearance as inviting as a pair of snake fangs. She felt herself turn pale as one of the men spoke up with the voice of a mountain:
“Are you Yagami Kou, Art Director of Eagle Jump?”
Briefly unable to speak, she merely nodded. Rin gave a squeak as she recognised the intimidation the two men were exuding.
“You have been formally invited to meet with Takeshi Takamura. A car is waiting for you by the street to take you to him. We ask that you come with us.”
The sound of Takamura’s name was enough for her to burst a blood vessel.
“I don’t care about that asshole! I need to go find a friend, let me through!”
Yet she found no leeway, the stares of both men under their overly expensive shades beginning to make her anger waver.
“You have unfortunately no power in this decision. Our chief has expressly asked for you to come with. If you still refuse, we will have to relinquish any information regarding Anders Tansuke.”
Yagami blinked.
“What? What about Anders? Did you...?”
“We have no obligation to tell you more. If you wish to know more, we ask that you come with. Your partner however must stay behind.”
Now it was Rin’s turn to become angry, looking like a stormcloud as she stepped up:
“You don’t have any right to do this! I’ll call the police if you don’t leave us alone!”
“The local police are no help to you here. We’re afraid there is no negotiation possible. Now, Yagami Kou, if you would be so kind to come with us. Else we may have to use force.”
Almost all courage was sucked out of Yagami as the two of them stepped aside, blocking both directions of the hall. She sensed there truly being nothing she could do, the helplessness she felt aggravating. She ran through a dizzying mix of possible outcomes, before one of the men leaned down and lowered his shades, revealing a pair of pale eyes that bored into her.
“I will do you a favor and tell you this. Mr.Tansuke is currently under observation by our group and ready to be taken in. Should our chief find you… lacking co-operation, he sees no qualm with having him removed from the face of society. He has means, you understand.”
Yagami felt her legs become weak. Futaba’s words to her about Takamura’s involvement in the death of Anders’ benefactor clearly echoed in her ears. Fear gripped her heart when she considered what could happen. With the heaviest sigh she had ever performed, Yagami stepped out from the apartment, Rin calling out behind her:
“Kou, wait! What are you doing?”
She turned to Rin with a resigned smile, aware that nothing she said would make sense for Rin until later.
“Sorry.”
She knew she had little time, so she returned briefly to Rin’s side and embraced her, whispering into her ear:
“This Takamura is responsible for what happened to Anders in the first place. Their threats are the real deal. I’m sorry, but I must go see him. Talk to Fuba for the details.”
She split apart from Rin, said person expressing full disbelief. Unwilling to leave her behind like this, she approached Rin one more time and briefly touched her cheek with her lips.
“I’ll be back soon, I promise. I still have to give you an answer. See you.”
Having said her part, she walked up to one of the two men and stated in as clear a voice as she could muster:
“Fine, I’ll come with. Don’t you dare touch her or anybody else.”
“We only have to bring you to our chief. Please relax. Ms.Toyama, have a wonderful day.”
Not even bothering to ask how they got Rin’s name, Yagami slowly followed as the two men began to head to the elevator, glancing back to see Rin reaching out with a desperate gaze. Yagami shook her head slowly, making Rin withdraw and tremble before picking up her phone and entering the apartment again, slamming the door shut. She knew Rin would call Futaba by now, hoping that she didn’t do anything stupid.
“What am I saying?” she said out loud to herself as they exited the building, a black limousine already awaiting them with an open door. Neither of the two men inquired about her question as they guided her in and closed the door, letting the car drive off with her and the driver. The latter was silent, hidden behind a thick pane of tinted glass. Yagami looked around the interior, before laughing sourly to herself.
“The biggest idiot here is me, no doubt.”
