Quick note: For those of you interested, I'm starting to upload DRK over on
Fanfiction. I'm trying to give the story a polish as I upload it over there, but it'll probably be a long way behind the version held here.
Anyway! It's been like a month since my last update. Have one!
-----
She hadn?t even stepped into the building yet, and already Koishi liked this better than the last job Nitori had hauled her into.
She was awake at a reasonable hour for a change. She wasn?t hanging around sketchy gamblers who?d be as likely to stab her as they?d be likely to offer her a tip. And perhaps most importantly - she wasn?t wearing an outfit that made her want to die of shame.
Nitori had told her to dress smart, so she?d gone out with Sango the day beforehand to buy herself an outfit that screamed ?temp worker?. She settled for something simple, traditional - a plain white buttoned shirt, and a long grey skirt running just after her knees. She chose to keep to her glasses rather than switching out for contacts - they added a hint of sophistication to an otherwise generic office uniform.
Sango was much harder to find clothes for, for the usual fin-related reasons. There were a variety of dresses and suits she could wear, but none of them would hide her identity as a dolphin from the masses. Even Nitori couldn?t come with anything to help, so Sango had to settle for hanging around outside the building. Knowing that the girl would be bored out of her skull, Koishi picked out a handheld for Sango to buy - something she could play with while waiting for the Sirens to finish their nine-to-five.
Still, she was missing whole days of school for this. When they?d managed to find this guy and get their info on the Red Lily, she?d have to spend the next week or so catching up. That was the part she wasn?t looking forward to quite as much.
The first day of ?work? arrived faster than Koishi had expected. There was no need for any training - temps weren?t expected to do more than pass around coffee or type out reports. She was getting paid the minimum wage for this job, but money was never a factor. She needed to get in close with the editor, try to work a few facts about this Red Lily out of her.
The Bunbunmaru office was further from the city centre than she had expected. She?d been thinking she was about to get a job in a large newspaper, but the building was probably doubling as a house and a printing press. If anything, it looked as if an office block had been lodged on top of an apartment building, with no real concern for whether the two designs worked with one another. The name BUNBUNMARU was written in unmissable letters across the top, half as tall as the building itself.
?It?s...? Koishi paused, trying to come up with some sort of compliment for the beast in front of her. ?...functional??
Sango didn?t waste her time with that sort of talk, sticking her tongue out at the building before taking her spot at the side. She hauled out her little handheld, turned it on and glared at the screen intensely. She had a good set of half a dozen games to work through, so she?d be preoccupied for a few days.
Fighting the urge to be violently ill from the architecture, Koishi made her way up to the front door. There were half a dozen buzzers at its side, every single one of them labeled ?AYA SHAMEIMARU - BUNBUNMARU REPORTER AND EDITOR?. Koishi was unable to resist the urge to press all six buttons at once. Every buzzer made a different noise, and Koishi could hear the cacophony she?d released from outside.
?Yeah, alright. I?m coming.?
A voice grunted through the intercom, sounding like it had just woken up. A set of grouchy footsteps stomped their way across to the front door. Maybe hitting all the buzzers had been a bad idea.
The door opened, revealing a scruffy looking girl in a plain shirt and jeans. She growled beneath her breath, staring at Koishi with something stronger than frustration but weaker than hatred.
?You?re one of the temps, right??
Koishi flinched, her regret growing stronger by the second.
?Y-Yeah, that?s me!? she said, trying too hard to sound energetic. ?You wouldn?t happen to be Shameimaru-san, would you??
The girl took a few seconds to respond, glaring at Koishi all the while.
?...No, as a matter of fact. I?m Momiji, her assistant. I?m the example you part-timers are expected to follow. Now, if you?ll follow me...?
Momiji reached out, nearly tugging Koishi in by the wrist until her business sense convinced her otherwise. She turned on her heels, stamping back into the room, with Koishi following along. It quickly came to light that this really
was part-house - she walked past a full-blown kitchen and a living room with all the works. It wasn?t until she was led upstairs that the building started to give the impression of a business - office rooms filled with paperwork, a foreboding printing press that took up two rooms on its own, and finally the editor?s office. The door was again labelled ?AYA SHAMEIMARU - BUNBUNMARU REPORTER AND EDITOR? in obnoxiously large writing.
Momiji knocked on the door, hitting it a little harder than was necessary.
?Boss, one of the temp kids is here.?
?Let them in, Momi,? a voice called out from the other side of the door. Sighing, the long-suffering assistant complied, opening the door and allowing Koishi to step in. She didn?t follow her - in fact, she made a deliberate point of slamming the door after Koishi had made her way through.
Aya Shameimaru was more or less what Nitori had said she would be - a young woman running on one-hundred percent ambition and zero percent business sense. She sat at an ornate desk that felt horribly out of place in the otherwise bland workspace, with a pencil behind her ear and a pile of intimidating legal papers at her side. Koishi saw a pile of dust rising on top of the files, so they?d probably seen no real use. Her shirt and shirt costume was disturbingly similar to Koishi?s.
?So, you?re one of the new hotshots trying to sink her teeth into Gensokyo?s best newspaper?? Aya said, shuffling her chair forward to give Koishi a better look. ?You certainly look the part. Excellent taste in clothes, if you don?t mind me saying.?
Koishi didn?t give an immediate response, looking to the side and scratching at her head. ?Uhh. Yeah, thanks. Koishi Komeiji. It?s a pleasure to meet-?
?So, before I can take you in as an employee, I have a little test you have to go through.?
Koishi froze. A test? No-one had said anything about a test before. Was there a qualification she was supposed to have?
?Don?t worry, Koishi-san. I just have a few questions I need you to answer. I?m not going to ask for a degree or anything.?
Aya leaned backwards into her chair, smirking as she looked into Koishi?s eyes. Koishi squirmed, tugging at the sides of her skirt. Was her lack of experience about to get her fired before she?d even started?
?Question One,? Aya said, holding up one finger. ?What do you think of the Bunbunmaru??
Oh. It was
that sort of interview. Well, that was a little less threatening. She knew enough about the paper that she could waffle her way into the job from here.
?Well...I figured you were one of the most trustworthy papers in Gensouto! I mean, you?re right on the pulse with the Morichika underground mob and all that. I love how your paper doesn?t cut any corners and just goes straight in for the truth and all that.?
It sounded wooden, and Koishi could hear how inauthentic her words were. She was ready for Aya to chew her out, but against her expectations the journalist just leaned back and nodded.
?Good. You passed the taste test. I wouldn?t have respected you as a woman of the press if you didn?t appreciate my work as the best Gensouto has to offer.?
Aya smirked, doing her best to look like a true professional. Koishi wondered if there was any real meaning to this question, or if it was just a trick to get candidates to throw a few cheap compliments her way.
?Alright, second question. Why should I put the fate of my paper in your hands?? Aya said, looking a little more critical this time. If the first question had been an excuse, then this one was a lot more serious. She really was looking for credibility this time around, and it wasn?t something that Koishi really had.
?...Uh.? Koishi twiddled her thumbs, racking her brain for something that sounded good. ?I?m...responsible? And efficient. And a good team player.?
?But more important than any of those...? Aya pulled the chair forward again, giving Koishi a glare that almost seemed too stern. ?...can you make a good cup of coffee if I ask for it??
Silence.
?...Yes?? Koishi replied.
?Excellent!? Aya said, offering Koishi a thumbs up. ?Two down, one to go. You?re doing great, Koishi-san.?
Koishi took back that last statement. Any credibility this ?test? had held before had just gone out the window. She relaxed, her shoulders lowering, her tone shifting into something slightly more authentic.
?T-Thanks.?
?Don?t mention it. Now, question three...?
Aya went entirely still, and her voice went totally monotone. A cold air fell in the room, and Koishi shivered in wait of the last question.
?...Do you read the Kakashi News??
Again, silence. Koishi gulped, not sure how she was meant to answer, finally deciding to just go for the truth.
?No. I?ve, uh, never even heard of it.?
Aya didn?t respond immediately, continuing to glare at her with those judging eyes. Now she really was looking for a lie from Koishi, glaring into her skull for some sign of a bluff. This was the one time Koishi had actually told the truth, so for once there was nothing for Aya to find.
Finally, after what must have been ten seconds of silence, Aya burst out into outright emotion. She stood up, puffing up her cheeks and going red in the face.
?Good! I had to make sure, see? That Himekaidou girl has it out for me, I swear she sent one of her own assistants to fake as my temp and spy on me, it?s heartbreaking seeing how other journalists can?t deal with their own shortcomings and just have to sabotage their competitors...?
Koishi wasn?t sure how genuine Aya was with her tirade. She swung her arms around wildly in all directions, letting out her tirade in one run without taking a breath. Whether or not she was genuine, Aya had one hell of a lung capacity.
She ran out of juice a few seconds later, stopping to take a breath. She slumped down into her chair again, picking up a nearby fan and blowing at her face. She whipped it up and down with impressive speed, cooling herself with a strong breeze.
?Hah. Sorry. I get very...emotional when I think about Himekaidou.?
Koishi didn?t respond. Nothing seemed like a safe response at this point, frankly. She gave the journalist a moment to regain her calm and catch her breath.
?...Right,? Aya said. ?Let?s get to business. Since you said you could pull it off, you feel like running downstairs and making me a cup of java? I need my shot before I can start my writing. Just make it black. If you can?t find anything, go ask Momiji.?
Wait. Was that an order? It was. That meant she was in. Koishi needed a moment to actually comprehend the fact, nodding and bowing.
?Y-Yes, ma?am!?
She turned, practically running out of the office back towards the kitchen. The hard part was over with. She?d managed to get into this business, and now she could start working her way into Aya?s trust to find out about the Red Lily.
Good thing she?d pulled off the sophisticated look, Koishi thought to herself. The last thing she wanted was for Aya to realise she was skipping class for this.
-----
It wasn?t difficult to find the coffee, fortunately. When Koishi went down into the kitchen to go scavenging for it, she found an entire cupboard full to the brim with Aki?s Golden Brew. She wondered if Aya?s suggestion that she?d have trouble finding this was a veiled insult.
Koishi started the kettle boiling, pulling out the first jar of coffee she could reach. Now she had to pick out a cup. Again, it was easy enough to find - there was another cupboard with its plates and cutlery perfectly ordered and piled up. She had a strange feeling this wasn?t Aya?s doing - more likely she?d had Momiji sort through the crockery when she had nothing better to do.
Koishi pulled out a mug - with the words AYA SHAMEIMARU, ACE REPORTER written on the side in garish text - and sat it over next to the kettle.
It was a good thing she wasn?t holding it when the buzzers went off, or she?d have been picking up the pieces and paying for damages. Again, six buzzers went off at once throughout the building. Each one could have passed as a fire alarm on its own - in unison, they could have been used to signal the apocalypse. Koishi grabbed at her ears, wincing as whoever was at the door refused to let the buzzers go.
?Jeez, another one?! Are all you temps this rude!??
Momiji yelled across the hallway in Koishi?s direction. Though she couldn?t see her, Koishi imagined the assistant was as irritated by the noise as she was.
?Momi! Get that for me, will you?? Aya called out from upstairs. Somehow, she didn?t seem disturbed by the noise blaring throughout the building. Koishi wondered for a moment if Aya was deaf, and doing a very good job of hiding it.
?YES, AYA.? Momiji yelled just to make sure she could be heard over the buzzers, and stamped her way down towards the front door. The buzzing finally stopped, and Koishi was left to deal with the ringing in her ears. She faintly heard Momiji opening the door and hauling in another eager employee.
She already had a good idea who it was, and she wasn?t about to give her a hero?s welcome.
-----
?C?mon, you pressed all six as well, right?? Mokou said, as she took a sip of her steaming-hot coffee. ?You got curious too. Who wouldn?t??
The pair had told Aya they were going to ?get to know each other? - they weren?t supposed to already have met, so acting like complete strangers when they were first introduced had been awkward.
?Yeah, but I didn?t hold them down as long as you did,? Koishi replied, her coffee cooling on the counter. She couldn?t stand hot drinks. ?If Sakuya-san is as bad as you, my ears might fall off...?
?Nah, you?ll be fine,? Mokou said, rubbing at one of Koishi?s ears to prove the point. ?She won?t do that. She?s the sort who?ll press them one at a time thinking that only one of them works.?
?But you barely know her. What makes you think that??
Mokou grinned widely as she took another hefty shot of coffee. ?Call it a hunch.?
A few minutes later, Mokou was proven right. A single buzzer played its one-note tune through the building, and Koishi could hear the assistant?s sigh of relief as she went to the doorway. A few minutes and another of Aya?s ?interviews? later, the pair were introduced to another ?stranger?.
?I?ll leave you three to get along,? Aya said to them, twirling a pen in her hand and eying the staircase every other word. ?I?ve got a few articles I need to proofread, and I can?t think without a constant flow of caffeine in my system. Also, there?s some old files you guys will need to sort out...?
She walked back to her office, her assistant Momiji trailing behind and looking as melancholy as always. Koishi was suddenly glad that she wasn?t going to be working here for long - she had a feeling it would be the sort of job that wore away at her soul like a grindstone.
?So,? Mokou said as soon as Aya was out of shot, ?can I assume I?ll be the only one taking up the offer of free coffee??
Mokou adjusted the suspenders holding her long beige pants up. Koishi had to wonder what had possessed her into wearing that outfit - it was the sort of apparel she expected from a balding man in his forties, not a teenage girl with a fitness obsession.
Sakuya had opted for the same outfit Koishi had, though she?d gone for a black sweater rather than a white shirt. It looked slightly more casual, and Koishi imagined it was actually a welcome break from her work uniform.
?How long do you expect we?ll be here?? Sakuya said, turning straight to business. ?If anything, I?m surprised the Lily hasn?t already been here to drop off all the juicy details of last week?s trial.?
?Eh, I figure it?s deliberate,? Mokou replied, turning the kettle on. ?These things don?t hit fever pitch right away, y?know. You?ve gotta give it a while, let people get frustrated. Let them raise complaints and have ?em get ignored. After that?s been done,
then people start getting angry. It?s kinda like this water, right??
She pointed to the kettle like it was some sort of artifact.
?It starts off cold, and it takes a while to warm up. But the hotter it gets, the more it bobs around, until-?
It was at this exact moment that a droplet popped out of the top of the kettle and landed on Mokou?s palm.
?Gah!?
She ran off to the sink to run her hand under cold water. Sakuya chuckled slightly, while Koishi just looked on conflicted. She turned to Sakuya, biting her lip.
?But if the Red Lily keeps quiet for too long, what if people get
too angry? We could have protests, riots...?
?Isn?t that exactly what the Lily wants?? Sakuya replied, almost monotone. ?If they wait until emotions are at a peak to release the information, it?ll drive those protestors wild. There?s no way they?ll stand around quietly and keep to holding signs up in front of the district court.?
A chill ran down Koishi?s spine, bringing her to attention. She wasn?t sure she thought so highly of this Red Lily any more. It was good that they were making the truth public, but how far were they willing to go with it?
?Alright, ladies. Coffee break?s over,? Aya yelled from upstairs. ?You three have some work to do, so get up here already.?
Koishi flinched, still tense from her own dark thoughts. She made her way up to the office section again, hoping that this Red Lily arrived sooner rather than later.
?Gimme a minute! I?m in the middle of first aid here!? Mokou yelled from over the sink. ?Damn, that really stings...?
-----
The last few days had been a blur for Eiki.
The authorities must have understood what she was going through, because they left her schedule open for several days afterward. Her cases were handed to other judges, and her daily routine was nothing more than menial paperwork. Maybe they were giving her a chance to recover after the nightmare of a case she?d been through. If she were to be more honest, though, they were probably trying to keep her out of the limelight because they knew she was a hate figure right now.
The complaints in the press had been growing. Claims that the Morichika case was a disgrace to the modern justice system, that the prosecution was horribly organised and the judge unable to see the guilty party right in front of her face. Sumire had taken most of the punishment - there were rumours she was going to be removed from the prosecutor?s office entirely - but Eiki had been the target of several less than polite comments.
She knew looking at them would only hurt her, but she felt like she was expected to take all of this in. As her morning slowly dragged along, she found herself reading through half a dozen tabloids, all of them still fuming about Morichika?s release. After the third article about her supposed secret connection to the mafia, she gave up and just put her head down on the desk.
The door to her office creaked open.
?Mornin?, boss.?
Morning? It was noon by now. Komachi was never on time, but even by her standards this was late. Eiki wished she still had the energy to chastise her assistant for her sloppiness, but all that reading had drained the life out of her.
?Good
afternoon, Komachi.?
She lifted her head up, pushing the tabloids off the desk and trying her best to look productive. Komachi didn?t let that one slip, sadly.
?You need to get your head outta the papers, Eiki. It?s all garbage. You know what happened in that courtroom.?
?What does it matter if
I know?? Eiki responded, eyeing the empty bottle of brandy on the floor. She?d made it through the hangover, but it was still distressing knowing that a bottle she?d saved for over a decade had been used up in a single night. ?I can?t go out there and tell the public that Ogawa was bribed. What do you think they?ll do if we give them a target to go after? The man has a family, Komachi. They shouldn?t suffer because-?
?And you should?? Komachi leaned over the table, her face only inches from Eiki?s. Her stern expression took up Eiki?s entire view as the country twang dropped out of her voice again. ?You did nothing wrong, and neither did Sumire. Neither of you should be suffering because some guy in forensics buckled to a mob bribe.?
Eiki leaned backwards, pulling her chair a few inches back. ?I could have done better. I could have found another way, another point to press, given Sumire something else to work with-?
?Listen to yourself!? Komachi couldn?t lean forward any further, so she made up for the distance by raising her voice. ?You can?t win them all, Eiki. There was nothing you could?ve done to change it, and yet you?re lazing around here beating yourself up rather than getting out there and
doing something.?
She was right. Eiki knew that. She wasn?t going to get anywhere by sitting here and feeling sorry for herself. This was pointless, and it was doing nothing other than making her feel worse.
But at the same time, it felt like she deserved this. Even if she hadn?t been the one to take the bribe, she was the one who was entrusted with delivering the verdict. If she?d found a way to declare Morichika guilty, none of this would have happened. She didn?t care what Komachi had to say - this was her fault.
Eiki didn?t offer a response in words, but Komachi could tell how she felt just from looking into her eyes. There was a weight in her stare, a guilt that hung to her like a ball and chain. Eventually Komachi pulled her head back, giving Eiki a look of disgust.
?...Jeez. Get your head out of your ass, Eiki. It?s not all about you.?
With that, she turned on her heels and made for the door.
?Where do you think you?re going?? Eiki asked, her voice gaining strength at last.
?I have paperwork that needs filed,? Komachi replied without bothering to look back. ?You sure don?t seem to need my help around here.? She slammed the door behind her on the way out, and the sound hung in Eiki?s ears long after Komachi had left.
She?d done it again, hadn?t she? Yet again she?d managed to scare Komachi off with her whining when she could have been out there actually solving the problem. Sometimes Eiki wondered how she?d managed to get into this position in the first place. She stared at the bottle again. Ten years of effort, and it had gone from prime condition to utterly useless in the space of a day. She almost empathised with it, picking it up off the floor.
She nearly dropped the bottle when her phone went off.
A message. Probably more commiserations from her fellow employees. Eiki had half a mind to delete the message without even looking at it.
The sender?s name was enough to change her mind immediately.
RL-----
The street she?d been told to visit was a wretched mess. The smell made her stomach churn, and the walls had turned a sickly shade of green. It took a lot of self-restraint for Eiki to keep herself from emptying the contents of her stomach onto the floor. She?d have never come here of her own choice, but the offer had been too good to pass up.
Help with Morichika. Two o?clock. District 1, Block 3, House 6. Come alone. Tell no-one.Even with an address and the wonders of modern GPS, it had taken Eiki some time to find the place. Her final destination was a crummy apartment in a lower class apartment complex. This was the sort of neighbourhood parents told their kids to stay away from, and it wasn?t hard to tell why. The whole place carried a threatening aura, and no matter how many times Eiki looked behind her back she swore she was being watched by something.
Was this a trap? A joke? If this really was the Red Lily calling her out for a meeting, then it made no sense. Why would they choose now of all times to side with the courts? And more disturbingly, how had the Lily managed to get hold of her phone number? She?d brought a gun with her just in case - an old Beretta which she?d never needed to use - but it wasn?t enough to get rid of this heavy atmosphere.
At last, the clock struck two in the distance. Eiki knocked the door politely with two clean hits, waiting for her host to allow her in. After a few seconds the door was opened, and a young woman in a silver jacket beckoned her inside. She seemed foreign, with pure black hair and well-tanned skin. Eiki only had to look her in the eyes for a moment to know that she wasn?t the Red Lily - she had the look of a servant, the expression of a woman who followed orders rather than giving them. Still, there was a dangerous glint in her eyes that stopped Eiki from giving her another look as she stepped into the building.
The apartment was bare, without a hint of wallpaper or furniture. All there was for Eiki to sit on was a barren bed in the corner of the living room. She accepted it - a bad seat was still more comfortable than standing. There was no way this was the Lily?s actual home - it was a go-between, maybe one they?d rented out solely for this meeting.
The woman in the silver jacket walked into a room in the side, presumably to call in her superior. Eventually, Eiki came face to face with the Red Lily.
At first, she couldn?t understand the name. For a Red Lily, the woman seemed to have a taste for black dresses...
