[One month ago].
A man wearing a black police uniform and cap rose his voice as he addressed a group of cadets, one of which was Itsuki. "AGUS special forces in the U.S. have filed a report about an unknown person with a Marti-Gras mask committing a series of high stake robberies. They look to be in their early twenties and have a wing-like khami. A khami being an exoskeleton of varying composition, structure, and nature. AGUS doesn't have an official name for people with these abilities so we refer to them as khami users. But you should all know that by now. Besides what I've already mentioned, we don't know very much about this person, only that they have the potential to become a major threat." As he said this, the man scrolled through a library of distorted images with the man he was describing. "We have reason to believe our guy is one of the following people."
There were three people on the slide, none of which looked similar.
"Each one of these people has been registered with having a wing-based khami and is a resident of Tokyo temporarily living in the US."
The slide changed to show a man with long blonde hair. His face was chubby, the kind only a mother could love, and his nose was just as bulbous as his earlobes were long.
"Our first man is Christian Romeo."
"He definitely doesn't look like Romeo!" One of the male cadets said, wearing a stupid smirk. His name was Eric. He was short and had black hair. His skin was so orange Itsuki always thought that he spent more time at the spray tan than everywhere else he went combined, and she was probably right. He wore a short-sleeved, button-down beach shirt too complete with palm trees and a giant fish jumping out of a lake. His appearance just screamed surfer dude.
"Very funny Eric," the instructor said. "Although I do agree it's safe to assume that he's not the right guy. Either way, it's important to include him since we know so little about khami users Some have been reported to have unnatural abilities, so we have no way of knowing if this guy has an ability to reduce his body fat. While odd, it wouldn't be unheard of. Considering this, Mr. Romeo is a resident of New Tokyo working in the U.S. on a government grant to research the chemical differences of khami users and normal humans. Eric, Hinami, and Akira, you will be going undercover as Interns to keep him in check and try to get information out of him without exposing your intent. I'm told you all have had good chemistry grades, so you should have no problem with this. Akira will be the team leader"
Eric leaned over and whispered into Akira's ear. "I cheated on all my chemistry assignments. So make sure I don't have to do anything important."
"I could have figured. Don't expect me to help you because of your incompetence," Akira replied. "You're on your own."
Akira was also short, about the same size as Eric. She had short pink hair that was parted in the middle and wore several pairs of earrings.
"Great," Eric said nervously. "Thanks, captain."
"Our next one," the Instructor continued. "Is a girl, named Touga Nagashima."
He changed the slide to show a teenager with short purple hair falling over one of her eyes. Unlike the last man, Touga was fit and had a soft-looking face with a perfect nose. The only unnatural thing about her was that she had reddish-orange eyes.
"My, she's beautiful!" Yuu said. Thinking about it, Itsuki realized that Yuu and the suspect looked a lot alike. While he may not appear so right away, Yuu was very narcissistic. Although, luckily, not in an annoying way. His hair fell over his left eye just like Touga, just that it was black and the hair that didn't fall over his face was cut incredibly short. That was about all they had in common appearance-wise. Also, Yuu towered all of the other cadets by at least a foot each.
"Calm yourself," Akira commented.
"She's younger than the suspected age, but we have good reason to believe it's her. She's 19 and lives in the Coral Bounds residential area, which happens to be in the middle of all the heist scenes. It seems a bit too convenient to just be a coincidence. According to her last checkup, she is only able to summon half a pair of wings, which also doesn't match up with the AGUS's description, but her last checkup was 3 years ago. She is currently unemployed but somehow has never paid a bill late. With no living guardians, it's odd that she would have any money. This case may be more of a stretch than the rest, but I believe it's worth investigating. Rin, Joaquin, Nagisa, and Erina will be on this case."
"Aww," Yuu complained.
"Maybe next time," Joaquin said, placing his hand on Yuu's shoulder. "Not everyone gets to be as lucky as me." Now that Itsuki thought about it, there were a lot of narcissists in her class.
"Hands off."
Joaquin lifted his hands in the air as if he was surrendering.
"That leads me to our last guy. Itsuki you actually know him so I'm putting you on the case."
He switched the slide to show Ken's face.
"His name is Ken Shinegori, my son and our prime suspect."
[Present day].
Ken and Itsuki turn the corner and come up to a small cafe.
"Here it is, the Ishida family cafe!" Itsuki said.
The cafe sat in the middle of a residential area and was about half the size of the buildings around it. The attic windows were flowing with flower beds, vines, and all sorts of natural plant life. Two cherry blossom trees stood guard by the entrance each accompanied by a topiary tree made to look like dolphins. Ken could tell why Itsuki liked this place, she always loved flowers and plants. Either way, it was a beautiful little shop.
"It's cute, isn't it? Come on, let's go in."
Itsuki led Ken through the doorway, and the inside was just as natural as the outside. Through the window, Ken could see that the table chairs were made of logs cut in half and each table was made to look like a tree stump. As they opened the door, a tiny bell rang, and the workers greeted them happily.
"Welcome to the Ishida cafe," Yuu said. "How can I help you today? Oh, hey Itsuki, back already?"
"Yep, but I brought a friend this time," she replied. "Ken, this is Yuu, he's a friend of mine from the police academy."
"Oh, hello," Ken said.
"Hi, I've heard a lot of good things about you," Yuu said grinning. That was really the only unattractive thing about him, his smile. It spread farther than it should have and gave off a menacing aura. It very closely resembled a jack-o-lantern's face. "So you'll need a table for two... We should have one open, follow me."
Yuu brought the duo to one of the tree stumps, on top of which was an envelope that said 'Menu' in gold. Next to it was two sets of utensils wrapped with a rose.
"I like this place, but I thought it was a cafe? It feels more like a regular restaurant to me."
"Yeah, it's a cafe. Just not a traditional one." Itsuki answered. "So, how's it been studying in the US?"
"To be completely honest, not so good. The material isn't so easy to understand, and I'm still not used to English."
"You'll get used to it. I'm starting to pick up some things from cadets that transferred over."
"Oh right, I forgot about that. What's the academy like with so many Americans coming over?"
"They're not too different over here as they are there you know?" Itsuki asked.
"Yeah I know that, but... you know?" Ken suggested.
"It's certainly different having people from other countries work with us. Although, they're supposed to take a course on Japanese before coming over, and they're pretty good with it. But sometimes you can tell by how they act and talk that they were brought up differently. But not in a bad way."
"Makes sense, and I guess they probably think the same about us. To be honest," Ken said. "I'm regretting not joining the academy with you. I think I have a lot less potential where I am know than if I were training with you."
"It's never too late to start, you know. With your dad in charge of all trainees now, I'm sure you'd be able to catch up quick."
"My dad wouldn't do something like that, and you know it. He always left me to figure things out on my own. Even when I really needed help. He's actually why I didn't join with you in the first place"
"I know you're not a fan of him, but people change. You can't always let your dad stand in front of who you are now and what you want to become."
Silence.
"Wow, I really sounded like a mom right there didn't I?" Itsuki said, scratching her head laughing.
"You really did," Ken said. But he knew she was right. If it weren't for how Ken thought of his father, he may not have turned into the criminal he was. It was too late for Ken to change, he had already gained a reputation and it wasn't long until he was exposed for who he really was, even Ken knew this.
"Hey Ken..." Itsuki said staring at the table, biting her lip. "I've got a question and I want you to answer honestly." Something about the way she said that made Ken worry. Itsuki seemed really disturbed about something. Throughout all his life, Ken had known Itsuki to be fearless never hesitating and always making the right decision. But in an instant, she went from casual to on the verge of falling apart.
"Woah," Ken said. "What's up? Is something wrong?" Ken was starting to worry.
"No, nothing's wrong. You said you were struggling in America, right?"
"Oh, yeah," Ken said blushing.
"If you wanted to join the academy here in Tokyo, but your dad was keeping you from doing that, how come you haven't joined in the US? No one's stopping you... You can still be a great cadet."
"Well, I guess it's just not the same. And anyway, I've found something... else like it."
"Really, what is that?" Itsuki asked secretly knowing full well what he was talking about.
Ken hesitated. "I'll tell you some other time, I haven't even looked at the menu yet."
It wasn't that Ken didn't trust Itsuki, he just didn't want her to worry about what he had become. The worst part about it was that Ken enjoyed it. He enjoyed being a criminal, no matter how bad he knew it was. Either way, Ken had proven Itsuki's worst fears, and she wasn't sure how she would handle the scenario.
"You're right, enough talk about work, let's get some food."
Some time passed, and the topic never came back up. At times it seemed like Yuu was trying to signal Itsuki, but she was so entertained by Ken's company that she forgot to respond. Occasionally another waitress would come to serve the two of them, the third member of Itsuki's team. Ken didn't end up ordering coffee, instead, he bought a tea and a slice of a pie made of fruit he couldn't remember the name for. Itsuki ordered a complicated-looking coffee with layers upon layers of whipped cream drizzled in chocolate and caramel syrup.
While Ken was using the restroom, Yuu gave Itsuki the bill. On the back was a question mark, and Itsuki knew what it meant. It was time to report the results of her investigation, but she struggled with what to write. She had already confirmed her suspicions that Ken was in fact the winged criminal they were looking for, but she still cared about Ken. Itsuki took a pen from her jacket and carefully wrote a large X on the back.
"Alright, It's starting to get late," Ken said before yawning. "As much as I hate to, I think it's time to go."
"Yeah, let's go."
They walked to the front, and Itsuki stopped.
"Actually, Ken, I think I'm going to stay to keep Yuu company while he's on break."
"Oh, okay. I guess he must work pretty late then."
"Yeah."
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow. Bye Itsuki," Ken said.
"Goodnight!" Itsuki said standing next to Yuu as they both waved.
Once Ken had left earshot, Yuu asked, "So, you think he's our guy?"
"No, he's not," Itsuki replied.
Yuu looked at her, raising an eyebrow doubtingly. "How can you be so sure?"
"There are just some things I know are right, and this is one of them," Itsuki lied.
"Whatever you say. I guess I'm glad you don't have to go through the trauma of having to arrest your friend."
"Me too," Itsuki said relieved the day was finally over. "C'mon, let's go back to HQ."