Pov Neo
'Copper will be here in a moment and she is still not ready ?'
I think while sitting on the crate with the cat lying on my thighs, when I stroked her.
'Copper was supposed to come for us because Ash has already gone through the information from the disk and supposedly has something interesting, as he called us in the morning that we should come to pawn Shop'
I think as I listening the sounds of the shower from the next room .
'What is taking her so long ?'
I wonder more and more annoyed when ,after a few minutes of sitting and doing nothing the sound of the shower stops. Knowing that Kurumi is already ready to go I let the cat go and the I jump off the crate to shake the fur off my pants.
Immediately after that Kurumi emerges from the bathroom and today she has put her hair up in two ponytails with a small fringe on her forehead. Her outfit is a white dress with a black corset and black shoes.
"Copper will be here in a two minutes, time to go ."
Says Kurumi tying the black eye patch on her eay then she walks out of the bunker .Listening to Kurumi's words I move after her, making sure along the way that the cat's bowl is full.
Kurumi pov
After a short car ride, we arrive at a, pawn shop in front of which Copper stops the car. Getting out of the car I walk up to the door only to be met by our old acquaintance in front of it.
" Emerald? Right?"
I ask making Emerald staring at the door jump up obviously frightened.
' she should pay attention to her surroundings '
I think while watching Emerald turn around quickly retreating backwards at the same time.
" Is that you?"
Asks Emerald looking at me from head to toe.
" Yes it is me. "
I say smiling at her then an awkward silence falls between us through which I smile at her the whole time . Behind me I feel the presence of Neo and Copper who also don't speak, most likely looking at an increasingly irritated Emerald.
"Are you coming in or not? "
I ask looking at Emerald who seems to have finally realized that she is standing in the doorway. Seeing her mistake Emerald's face turns a little red then she walks quickly past me. However, before she passes me I catch her hand stopping her in place.
" Where are you going? "
I ask looking at her.
"What do you want? "
Emerald says, trying to look menacing as she push my hand away.
"Did you come here just to watch the door like an idiot? "
'It's wise that you check the area first, but by standing at the door you're drawing too much attention to yourself.'
I ask at the same time thinking of something else as I looking into her eyes.
"Whatever"
Emerald says with an exasperated as she roll her eyes. With that I drag her by the hand to pawn shop under the gaze of an annoyed Neo and a confused Copper. Entering the store, as usual, the first thing that catches my eye is Big Mom standing at the counter looking through something at the cash register.
" Good morning".
I say drawing Big Mom attention to us.
" Little Kurumi and sweet Neo. I see you have a new cute face with you ?"
Big mama says with the same kind tone as always.
" Okay Emerald here I leave you, I have other things to do".
I say letting her go, then I move to the back of counter to enter the residential part of the pawn shop .
" Your friend?"
Copper asks as we walk through the house.
" No "
I replies straight as I enter the room where Ash is sitting with his computer fired up.
" What is the news ? "
I ask as Neo and I approach him.
" The good news is that we have faces, the bad news is that there is nothing to prove the sale so Xiong won't take it as an execution of the order ."
Says Ash looking into my eyes.
"We need recordings with a sale or confession ? "
I ask when Ash nods in confirmation.
"Preferably both. Well you were right about the usefulness of this information though. There is a moment in the video where the buyer for this dust is mentioned but it's not enough to make xiog happy with it."
Says Ash to which I can only sigh and scratch my head.
"You have little time left, how do you want to handle this?"
Cupper asks with his hands folded.
" Neo and I have a few options, firstly Lotus continues to look for suspicious things on the streets, secondly we have their faces so we can search ourselves and the last option is the owner of the warehouse. "
I say thinking of the fastest plan.
" The owner of the warehouse "
Copper asks again.
" Yes by Friday these people wanted dust from him, so we can follow them from that point and perhaps record the exchange or something . "
I say explaining my thinking.
" What is the certainty that they will take dust from him? You said the guy might not agree? "
Copper asks.
" Because it's their only reasonable option, they have a hook on the guy who can't back out? "
Says Ash looking at me as I nod confirming his theory.
" Okay let's see those recordings so we can start looking. "
I say a little tired of this already.
" Alright I already have the footage clippings prepared containing the best face shots."
"Most of the people in there are, to my knowledge, the outcasts from other groups, but there is one face I don't recognize."
Says Ash as he moves away from the computer so we can see the screen on which the images slowly move.
'A few normal-looking people a few people who look like gangsters, a few faunus in short nothing special.'
'I counted twenty-three people, thirteen people with various types of firearms the rest with clubs, knives or other close-range weapons '
'None of the weapons appear to be mechashift, so there is unlikely to be anyone there with a high threat to us . Well, unless no one there simply uses it or can't afford it. Just like me and Neo'
Thinking about all of this, suddenly appearance of the last image on the screen send shivers down my spine.
Pov 3 person
After looking at the screen both Kurumi and Neo froze in shock, which Cupper and Ash noticed.
"You know her right? "
Asks Ash looking at the image of the woman on the screen.
"Yes, despite that scar. She's the one who held Neo in the museum. She is the burnt whore mentioned by the magazine owner "
Says Kurumi looking at the same woman in a suit which she had the opportunity to see that day at the museum. With the difference that her face is half covered with scars from burns. Hearing Kurumi's words Ash looks at the screen and sighs.
"Spider what? I sincerely hoped that they would no longer appear in Vale. But apparently spiders are not afraid of fire "
Ash says looking anxiously at the screen.
" I get it, with the help of outcasts from other gangs they are able to pretend to be other gangs in the course of selling. But why do they do it? They can use this dust differently then selling . "
Asks Cupper as Kurumi pulled herself out of shock.
" Destabilization is the best way for them to take over the vale and by the way they will make money from it. "
Says Kurumi with which Ash agrees.
" Especially after you burned their supplies, they will need cash more than resources".
Adds Ash.
"What? "
Copper says without understanding the meaning in this.
" They can steal most of the resources but with the cash they will buy things without risking being caught stealing. The dust from these warehouses is unconverted dust. It is not suitable for anything. That's why they sell it to get legitimate resources with the money from it."
Says Ash when Kurumi, standing to the side, seems to be thinking about something.
"Since she is alive, does she know about me and Neo "
Asks Kurumi obviously stressed about this situation.
" Calm down, they weren't looking for you for some reason so don't get unnecessarily nervus."
Says Big Papa who entered the room apparently hearing the whole conversation .
" As for the affiliation, Ash you can't be sure if she is still working for the syndicate."
Says Big Papa reassuring Kurumi and Neo.
" Why should she no longer belong to the spider? "
Cupper asks.
" She lost her entire hideout and with it she probably lost resources worth hundreds of thousands of Lien. Unless the fire killed her LIL Miss should have. But she is alive which means she escaped or Miss Malachite likes her very much . But I doubt it. "
These words from Big Papa were enough to defend his statements.
" Besides, if it was indeed a spider syndicate. Then they wouldn't be selling resources here but giving them to the wave sydicate. Unless they really mean to destabilize the Vale and cause some kind of war here"
Says Big papa when something visibly begins to form in his head.
"WAVE Syndicate ? "
Asks Kurumi not knowing what's going on.
"Don't worry it's not the Vale group. This is another group from Mistral smugglers similar to Xiong only on a larger scale . "
Says Ash satisfying Kurumi's curiosity.
"Kurumi criminal world is not only Vale, it is also Mistral and even Atlas. However, it is only in Vale that there is such a mess because it is the only place where the authorities do not control or fight the gangs."
Says big papa looking at Kurumi.
"They work for them or support them."
Said Kurumi looking secretly at Neo who was kept staring at the monitor, clenching and unclenching her fists.
" Well a lot of information and unknowns. However, this should not matter now. Your job is simply to get information and evidence and then pass it on to the client. They will take care of this. Just be more careful "
Big papa says
"How can I not care about it?The woman who hunt my Neo is alive, a woman we apparently disfigured. I don't want to feel the same as when they took my pink mouse ."
Asks nervous Kurumi drawing the attention of Neo with her words .
"Kurumi what do you want to do with the information that this woman is alive. Do you want to kill her?"
"Do you want to kill her for revenge? Or you feel threatened along with Neo? "
"If you do that there will be problems with Xiong. Don't be a silly girl Kurumi, nothing has happened so far and I'm not saying not to worry, I'm just saying that Xiong will take care of her when you get evidence that she did it. It will end without risk and with clean hands for you. "
After these words, Kurumi takes a deep breath.
"Ash will you send me pictures of these faces?"
Seys Kurumi pulling out her scroll then she start to write something on it.
" Sure I can but are you going to look for them yourself ? Now you know it could be a spider so it's no longer as easy as it was before. "
Ash asks.
" I have Lotus I will send him pictures of these faces. To let his people know what to look for. We have little time but we have more eyes and ears. "
"We have three days until Friday. If we don't find anything by then we'll go to the source of their supplies. "
Says serious Kurumi turning around and leaving room, she is followed by smiling Neo .