TRIGGER: CH 22

 Chapter 22

Another few days had passed since the incident and so far, nothing had jumped out on them yet. Perhaps it is safe to assume that no one notices. Either by pure luck or otherwise.

(He wouldn't put it behind the two Interpol agents to have had a hand in everything. It certainly seems possible.)

They had gone to work as usual following that, keeping close contact with each other while trying to stay off the police's radar.

The more he thinks about it the more it sounds ridiculous. And the fact that the Interpol actually included a literal criminal into their network is even more so.

His thoughts ran as fast as his speeding car running down the familiar route stretching from his home to the office. The road is rather empty for the time despite today being weekday; the people are still quite shaken by the incident. No matter how he sees it, it still felt staged. But they don't have much to work on at all. The Main Division is actively shutting them off.

But it wasn't like they didn't see that coming.

However, this other thing, he can say he didn't.

Among all unexpected ways to start the day, he certainly won't be able to predict seeing one Fuwa Isamu the first thing in the morning, standing right in front of the office's entrance way.

"Hey, good morning."

"Good morning, what brings you here?" It is a rare sight to him; usually he directly contacts Akizuki himself for things, rarely does he come into contact with the man's second-in-command (and with that case happening recently, they have been low-key avoiding contact with Akizuki and his squad). A little thought did cross his mind then - did they found out about that day?

"Oh, nothing. Akizuki-san told me to hand you this." The man hands him a large envelope. "It's something about the last serial murder case. I think he told you he'd have Shijima-san work it out, right?"

"Yeah, he did. Did it work out?"

"Sounds like it did, and this is probably a report on that. Though I don't know anything more about it."

"Okay. By the way, thank you. He could've just called me to pick it up myself, though."

"Well, he's a bit caught up with something lately, so I guess it's probably that." The man followed it up with a little shrug. The conversation falls a bit and then he notices something a little strange.

"Fuwa, are you going somewhere? It's rare to see you out of uniform." He looked...presentable? Fashionable? Somewhere about that. Ryuga could've sworn he saw a faint blush dusting the other's cheeks at the mention of his unusual wardrobe change.

"-Uh, yeah. I'm on leave today so.., I'm going around for a bit."

"I see. Be careful on your way out then."

The man went off after that with a curt wave, appearing somewhat urgent. And yes, he's definitely blushing, judging by the redness of the tip of his ears. Ryuga is left standing in front of the door in mild confusion.

"That was...strange."

 

*

 

The day afterward continued in mundanity after his rather strange encounter; so odd it actually distracted him from his previous line of thought. Shaking himself out of his mild stupor he brought himself back down to current business. Turning the nondescript envelope in his hand he made a beeline towards his table in the office.

Between everything that happened within this few weeks, he actually had forgotten about this. He did expect it to take time with their current situation, and both parties had been busy. He couldn't anticipate what could be coming out of this envelope.

He ought to wait for the rest of them first. His side business aside, this is something crucial to their last case - they should know about this.

As he sat pondering about the envelope set on his table, his phone vibrated with an incoming call next to it. His first reaction is to eye the phone in suspicion (thanks to a certain person, all and any sudden calls feel suspicious). Picking it up, he sees an unfamiliar number across the screen. From there he knows it's probably not that man since it's a house phone number.

"Hello?"

"Hello, it's me. It's been a long time."

The caller was someone he hasn't met for a long time, and it is someone very close to him. A family.

"Raiga? Is that you? It is a long time. How are you doing?" Good hearted chuckle reached him from the other end.

"I'm fine, as always. I'm currently back home on a break. It's been quite long since I had one. I heard you haven't return for quite some time too?"  

"Ah, well, work has been eating up my time as always, and it's getting quite hectic too recently. I have been thinking of taking one myself too but couldn't find the time yet. How's everyone?"

"As expected, eh? I feel you on that. Folks back home are fine as always. Gonza is energetic as usual."

"That's good to hear." Hearing the other man talking about the dear butler reminds him of back then. Gonza-san had taken care of him like a son, and still do know. Once in a while they'd get in contact, asking for each other's wellbeing and talk about little things.

"Are you taking a long break this time?"

"I am, unusually. It won't hurt to take one from time to time. Oh, by the way, are you free this weekend?"

His eyes flicks towards the calendar on his desk. "I don't have plans yet for the time being."

"That's great then. I'm going over there this weekend, so maybe we could meet up somewhere."

"Okay, I'll be waiting. Call me when you get here." He couldn't keep the bubbling feeling of anticipation from coloring his voice. The replying laugh on the other end tells him the other man feels the same way too.

"Okay, see you later." A click ends the line. Setting his phone down, he reached for a marker pen, marking the weekend for their meeting.

 

The rest of the team gradually fill in the office after that, signaling the start of the day.

 

*

 

The day felt quite short since they stepped into the office despite not having much happening beyond their routine meeting earlier in the day.

The first thing that greets them this morning is a regular looking brown paper envelope lying on the meeting room's table, with Ryuga sitting in the chair next to it.

Aguri raised an eyebrow at the sight. "What's that?"

"Oh, it's something following the last case. Takeru and Akizuki managed to get something out of the suspect during the interrogation, and just this morning this got back." Ryuga gave a short rundown of the story while gesturing towards said item. He hums in return.

"I assume an outside force lent a hand?"

"Naturally." Of course. Internal members aren't reliable enough for this kind of matter.

The next one to arrive is Rian, somehow looking fresh as always regardless of the state of things.

"Documents?" Ryuga nods in reply. And just like that they reach an understanding.

A clean 10 minutes later Takeru steps into the threshold, seemingly having fought against the typhoon to reach the office. "Sorry, overslept." Accompanied with a lopsided grin.

 

Silently, he watches everyone's expression. More so he starts to observe Ryuga a lot closer than before.

 

From the investigations done (in secret) by the outside party (no doubt highly trusted by Akizuki Daigo himself), the mystery of the murder case is made clear - the suspect was employed by someone higher up in the system to test a series of new drugs that could potentially be used as a weapon.

The serial murder case was actually not the first instance of the drug being used; the history went back even further, reaching the era of the old unit. And the lab had long been infiltrated by them, hence why both the drug and the crime stayed undetected for so long. Completed batches are suspected to be sold to foreign parties via underground meetings like the one held during the technological convention.

The scale is bigger than one would've thought. No wonder the Interpol are in this as well.

But now it made sense to him.

The office is wrought in silence following their morning discussion; stuck between the weight of the truth and the sheer shock of discovering it. And the mood stayed until the end of the day. Similarly, he kept on gauging Ryuga's reaction throughout the whole thing.

He purposely waited the entire day until the only ones left are Ryuga and himself.

"Ryuga-" Aguri catch him just before the other leave.

"Yeah?"

Looking around, the other two members have left the vicinity. Regardless, he lightly pulls the other into the meeting room.

"Aguri, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, just - did you remember your request last time? That place northwest to the city?" Ryuga's expression changes then.

"Yeah. How did it go?"

"I kept the surveillance going since then, and I found something."

"What is it?"

"Exactly on Friday 2 AM the place comes alive. The camera catches some suspicious movement; looks like some business is being carried out."

"..Thought so."

"You don't seem surprised?" Odd.

"I did guess it, but I wasn't sure."

That sounds at least half true. But Ryuga is never that good at lying.

"And there's another thing." Ryuga's full attention is back on him. "I only managed to catch it once, but a certain politician is involved in the dealings."

"What? Who?"

"I'll forward them to you later. It's a bit too risky to discuss that here."

"Ok, then. I'll contact you later."

"Aah."

 

The deeper he works into this the stronger his gut feeling is telling him - Ryuga is hiding something. Exactly what it is or for what is he doing all of this; to say he doesn't have an inkling of an idea would be a lie. He, they may have just been ignoring this, but the elephant had always been there.

Waiting. 

Just, why didn't Ryuga directly asked for their help?