A Call In The Middle of The Night

 The next day was quite a rowdy one in their little agency office, and the reason was Kyouka. Setting aside a number of problems like her being a former member of Port Mafia or her having an uncontrollable ability, everyone seemed to take a liking to her immediately.

Yosano for once dragged her to the infirmary and squeezed her into a number of outfits she thought were cute and would definitely suit her, the rest would then snap photos of her and muse over how adorable she was. The last of Yosano's outfits was a maid one, and Naomi made the girl stand on her chair so she could admire her even more as she twirled in her dress.

Well, I get where they're coming from. She definitely is cute. Even Kath could not help but snicker at the show going on. The only person who didn't seem the least affected by the cuteness was Kunikida who kept his serious face buried in his computer screen.

" Sensei, maybe you should take a glimpse too."

" No thank you, I'm behind on my schedule thanks to the abduction incident. I need to make up. Plus-"

" Kunikida-san…" Atsushi called from the other side and the man answered automatically.

" Don't look at me like that. I tried to stop them, too."

" Since everyone is having fun, I don't see the problem." Kath giggled.

" The problem is that-" He was cut off as Rampo barged into the room with a package of sweets. He handed one to Kyouka, upon which Kath's mouth dropped open.

" He's sharing his sweets? He never did this with anyone, not even me." It would be a lie to say that she didn't feel a tinge of envy at that moment. But it soon evaporated when Rampo ate the very sweets he gave to the girl. " Yeah, the further he can come to sharing is to allow her tp mix it."

The president then declared his presence, making him the center of attention instead of Kyouka for once that morning.

So far, it seemed like no one was coming after the girl, neither the police nor the Port Mafia, so the president was willing to keep the girl under his wing for the time being, especially seeing her and Atsushi's resolve.

She had another choice, Kath thought, she could just run away to a place where neither the Mafia nor the police could track her, the agency was willing to help. But she refused.

He said that I could do nothing else but kill people. I want to prove to myself that he's wrong. As Kath typed away on her computer that evening, she could still recall Kyouka's words. She leaned back on her chair and looked up at the blank ceiling. " She is a struggler as well, a lost soul amidst this life like we once were…"

Pushing herself up, she grabbed her phone and checked her inbox. So far, no new messages. The silence was weighing on her she began imagining all kinds of scenarios. What if he didn't make it out alive? What if the hit he received was too much for him to handle? Or what if she took too long to get him out of the water and his lungs couldn't keep up? All those questions accumulated on her and she had no choice but to shake her head vigorously to keep them away.

She had done what she could do. All that was left was to hope he was doing well.

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Frankly speaking, when she told her that she could call whenever she needed help, she didn't expect her to do so. And definitely not two days after the ship fight.

A call in the middle of the night slapped Kath out of her dream world, made her throw her warm covers and race to put on her shoes and pack her backpack.

Her friend needed help.

Higuchi sounded terrified and hopeless, panting as though she had been running for a while now. It took three attempts to get her words out straight and feed the other woman on the situation.

By the time she was done explaining, Kath was by the genkan, ready to leave.

" Don't you worry, we'll save him," she told the almost-on-tears Higuchi, even though she couldn't see her, but she could tell from her cracking voice as if she was about to start bawling any moment. " Just listen to me."...

✦ -─────────- ✦

The meeting point was between the Port Mafia territory and where Karma Transit apparently held her friend captive.

Kath had been waiting for about five minutes, each minute seemed like an eternity before Higuchi emerged from the darkness of the night. As she approached, Kath could tell the other blond was reluctant. That was expected, for they were enemies, and even if Kath had no intention whatsoever of harming Higuchi, not the same could be said about the Port Mafia if they found out she had contacted her for help.

She could be treated as a traitor.

However, what made Higuchi turn her back on all those possibilities was this one simple fact, they both care for Akutagawa deeply they would do whatever it takes for his sake.

" Did you bring what I asked?" Kath didn't need to ask, she knew the answer just by looking at the large bag Higuchi was holding, but she needed to reassure her that she meant no harm. If they were to do this together, they need to trust each other.

" I did." Higuchi dropped the bag on the ground, and that propped it open, revealing the weapons stacked inside of it. Guns, rifles, grenades...

" That would do." Kath's threads slithered and twisted midair before retrieving some of the weapons inside, they floated up, as though held by invisible hands, although, in reality, they were held with very thin silver strings.

As she looked up, she could see the reluctant look back on the woman's face, but this one seemed rather sad. " What's it?"

Higuchi lowered her gun and looked at her own feet. " What if Akutagawa-senpai doesn't want my help? He is always saying that he doesn't need help from anyone, even leaving us at the back and fighting on his own… can I even… be of help to him?"

Hearing that made Kath's heart throb, and her lips pulled back into a small smile. " Maybe he didn't change that much after all."

Higuchi looked at her in puzzlement.

" You have to forgive him, for that's more like an instinct for him, to leave others behind. It's not that he doesn't trust you, Higuchi." She offered her a small smile. The one who used to always look after the other eight kids in the slums, the one who always kept them behind him whenever there was a fight, making sure no harm reached them… " It's that he's, by instinct, protecting you."

Higuchi's eyes widened slightly, and Kath's smile shifted to a confident smirk. " Let's go deal with those guys then."

Higuchi nodded, loading her shotgun...