Jasper smiled warmly as he passed through the precinct's front doors and waved a quick goodbye to the front window officers. He kept a relaxed demeanor as he walked to his car that he parked in the visiting parking lot on the opposite side of where Shota had parked.
He pulled out his phone and his keys, using the reflective surface on his phone to briefly check if he was being followed before turning the screen on to pretend to look at his notifications. He heard no one, noticed no one and no one seemed suspicious in the parking lot. He pressed the unlock button on his key, the lights of a sleek black muscle car blinked on.
Ducking his tall frame into his car he set his things on the passenger side and closed the door. The interior of the car was a brilliant red, and all the lights on his dash and radio matched. He looked in the back seat with a quick glance, ensuring nothing was amiss he started his car. The engine roared like a mechanical beast, the rumbling was deep and continuous as he let it warm up.
There was a small device that blinked blue in his center column by the lighter. Jasper held his phone and watched the device until its light turned red and stopped blinking, the entire process taking just a few seconds. Opening his arm rest compartment he pulled out a bluetooth earpiece and connected it to his phone, making sure his device was scrambling his location properly before making a restricted call. He set his phone into the center console and backed his car out of the parking spot.
The phone rang twice before it was answered by a metallic voice, speaking in a cryptic way as if they were reciting a riddle. *"My hand is outstretched for your Ghostly figure as I draw my last breath. Are you my Guardian angel?"*
Jasper's bluetooth device disguised his voice as he responded. "I am the Wraith who feeds upon your suffering." His accent changed to sound slightly British, his tone of voice dropped to being more monotone and cold.
The phone cut as his call seemed to be transferred to someone else. *"Raith. It's about time you checked in."* A thick russian accented voice spoke.
"It was harder to evade the police than I anticipated." *"I got the supplies you managed to save, we have begun the testing, your colleague brought in some promising subjects."*
Jasper's eyes narrowed, he turned out of the parking lot and drove the few streets down to Archway's burgers. "Are you going to elaborate, or keep me in suspense?"
*"Tch. They took the drugs a few hours ago, 2 have had no reaction. 3 of them died within a few minutes. After we finish the autopsies on them, I need you to discard them."* "It'll be as if they never existed." Jasper responded plainly.
The russian man laughed, *"Oh I know Raith. Come by tonight. We need to talk about the Takamitsu rep."*
"Oh? Still having trouble getting him to cooperate?" Jasper chuckled, the russian in response scoffed.
*"He is proud Japanese man, I respect his determination, but I grow tired of waiting and the event we need him for is in a week."* Jasper sighed, parking his car at the burger place. He could see Shota standing outside leaned up against his own car, watching him suspiciously from across the parking lot.
"Just have someone pretend to be him, put some makeup on them and no one will know. I can hire someone to pretend to be his mistress, Coco."
The russian man hummed as he considered it. There was some kind of whispering or rustling that Jasper could hear. *"We can talk more in person. Not bad idea. Raith."* The call was cut.
Jasper pulled his bluetooth out of his ear and put it back in the arm rest and grabbed his phone, as well as a small device similar to the one that blinked in his car. It was packages as a small air freshener. Taking his keys out of the ignition the loud rumbling of the car died down. Getting out of the car he smirked at Shota, admiring the color of his car.
"Oh, I like that paint job." Jasper loosened his tie on his neck and strolled over to Shota's car, the metallic red paint looked almost black in the dark parking lot but had a wonderful blood like glimmer in the shine from the street lights.
Shota huffed, looking at Jasper's car with no little amount of envy. "Why does the fact that you have a muscle car not surprise me?" Stuffing his hands in his jacket pockets he kept his guard as he stood by Jasper. His exhaustion was clear on his face and he was in no mood to play games. But of course, Jasper was in the mood to play.
"If we become good enough friends, I'll let you drive it." Jasper wickedly grinned, casually walking to the entrance of the burger place that was mostly empty.
Shota rolled his eyes, though he did feel a small amount of excitement at the possibility he wasn't about to begin falling for Jasper's charms. "We aren't friends." "Yet." Jasper bluntly said.
Jasper held the door open for him, following him inside they both stood to the far side of the counter as they decided what they wanted.
Jasper knew immediately. Shota cupped his chin as he looked over the large menu with narrowed eyes. 'If Jasper is paying, I should get something really good…' One way to get on Shota's good side was to buy him food, or specifically, melons and honey buns.
Once he decided they ordered, Jasper pulled out his wallet and took out a card to pay. Shota took a peek at his I.D. hoping to see something off with it. He thought he was slick with his glance but Jasper moved his wallet closer to Shota as he waited for the receipt.
"If you want to look at my I.D, Just ask." Jasper coyly laughed, taking the receipt and handing Shota his beer as he turned red in the face. Taking his own beer he sipped the foam and started walking to a booth after giving the cashier a wink.
Shota grumbled and followed Jasper to a booth all the way in the corner of the restaurant. It was decorated with old school signs and gave the place a fun diner feel. Jasper sat in the seat against the wall, Shota sat across from him and took a drink of his beer as he settled in.
He was on edge, today had been busier than it has in a while. Not only that, he never expected a hitman to be his partner. He couldn't really wrap his head around it.
Jasper took the device he put in his pocket earlier and put it on the table near Shota, who looked at it with a scowl.
"What's this?" Shota refused to grab it. "Air freshener for your car." Jasper coyly said. "I don't trust you." Shota declared. "That's smart of you." Jasper grinned with a deep chuckle.
"No.. Really, what is it?" Shota lowered his voice, not that there was anyone else in there aside from the employees who were well out of ear shot.
Jasper drank a sip of his beer and cocked his head as he licked the foam off his lips, speaking softly his words rolled off his tongue. "It scrambles anything within a certain range that can track your location."
Shota's eyes narrowed. "I don't need that." He pushed the air freshener away. "My car smells great." He gave a small bit of emphasis on some of his words.
"You'll need it." Jasper pushed it back. Shota's lips pursed into a thin line, taking the thing and putting it in his jacket pocket. "I don't trust you. But I… I want to. So if this thing explodes-" "It won't. If I wanted to harm you, I'd have done it." Jasper cut him off with a clear and cold tone that made Shota freeze.
After an awkward silence Jasper raised a brow and sighed. "Trust is something we will have to work on. Just know that I need you, and you need me. I have no reason to do you any harm."
"But.. Your employers.." Shota tried being discreet, raising his brows to insinuate something unspoken. "We may have a contract but that doesn't mean they completely own me. I live multiple lives, they are involved with just a small fraction of them."
Shota felt a tight knot in his stomach, his face was tense while he drank his beer. He flinched when the employee called their number. He started to lift from his seat but Jasper stopped him as he slid out of the booth and strided over with soft foot steps.
Shota looked at his own hand as he sat there alone, it was shaking. His jaw was clenched tight and he didn't even realize just how tense he had been the entire time. His head was swarming with questions he wanted to ask, practically desperate to find some way to either convince himself he could trust Jasper, or that he needed to find a way away from him.
Looking over his shoulder he sees Jasper coming back, he moves his beer to the side and leans back. Jasper sets the tray between them and sits back down. Inspecting the food briefly before he looks at Shota.
"You seem uncomfortable." Jasper said plainly. Shota looked at him with a downturned face, unwrapping his burger with trembling hands. His mouth twitched as he tried to seem casual.
"Can you really blame me?" Shota's voice was barely above a whisper.
Jasper shrugged, eating one of his fries as he looked at him plainly. "Let's play a game, shall we? We each ask 5 questions. I'm sure there are things you would refuse to answer, as would I and it wouldn't count if one of us doesn't answer. Sound fair?"
Shota was chewing while Jasper talked, he swallowed down his food with a hefty sip of his beer. "So.. We get 5 answered questions, if I don't want to answer, you just ask another one?"
Jasper nods, cutting his burger in half, the thick patty was pink as he ordered it to be done rare. Picking it up he inspects it. "Yes. A simple game to get to know each other, and maybe next time we play this game, we can have fun punishments for who doesn't answer the question." Grinning wickedly he takes a bite of his burger. His eyes don't leave Shota's as he chews, using a napkin to clean the edges of his mouth.
Shota's foot tapped under the table, he hummed and dipped some of his fries in salsa and ate a few while he thought. "Who is going first?" He was eager to get started.
"Well, Officer Hayate, why don't you go first?"
They both ate in silence for a few minutes. Shota cleared his throat and figured he should just ask something simple. He knew asking his real name was off the table. "Where were you born?"
"Santa Barbara I believe." He answered almost unsure. "You don't know?" Shota raised his eyebrow and looked at him confused.
"Well, not precisely. I was raised in an orphanage there." He said it with a lowered tone.
"Hmm… I honestly wasn't expecting that." Shota wasn't really sure what he was expecting as an answer, but it just seemed like an odd one. "Alright. Your turn."
Jasper tapped his finger on the table casually. "Hmm.. Let's see.." He waited until Shota was drinking his beer before he asked. "What's your sexuality?"
Shota choked on his beer and almost spit it back into his glass, grabbing a napkin he wiped off his mouth and coughed after he managed to swallow. He was red faced with his brows raised.
"Excuse me?"
"What is your-" "No I HEARD you." "Oh good."
Shota stumbled on his thoughts as his eyes looked around in empty space, just dumbfounded that was the first question to be asked. Jasper sat there patiently eating his food with a grin and a twinkle in his eyes.
Shota let out a rough exasperation. "Not that it is any of your business, I'm Pansexual." He looked at Jasper, furrowing his brows with a bit of a scowl. "And before you make any jokes about cookware; don't. I've heard them all."
"Now why would I make such jokes? I'm not a bigot. Now, it's your turn." Jasper went back to eating casually. Shota was touched at Jasper's reaction, his shoulders relaxed and he leaned back into his seat, munching on a salsa covered fry as he thought of what to ask.
Shota was often met with offhanded jokes and more invasive questions when someone found out his sexuality. Jasper just accepted it, no other inquiries, no rude comments. Clearing his throat quietly he looked back into Jasper's watching eyes.
"Is there anyone who truly knows you? Such as your real name, all of your… Secrets."
"Now that is a good question. I'm taking it as, is there anyone I truly trust with that information…"
Jasper's expression turned from playfully wicked to stone like, as if all the emotions that he showed were taken off like a mask. Just neutral and emotionless, his voice even changed to flat and soft.
"There is one I have confided all of myself to, or enough of myself to know me as I am. And there are few who may have known me from my youth. However… No one can truly know someone absolutely. We all have our masks Shota, I just happen to have more than most people."
"That was.. A much deeper answer than I was expecting." Shota was going to remember this part of Jasper.
And just like a light switch Jasper went back to grinning like a Cheshire cat, the part of him before almost seems unreal when faced with this version of him. His voice was smooth like cashmere and dripped with charm. "I think you're starting to like me. Don't get too comfortable Officer Hayate, I have a tendency to bite when provoked."
Shota rolled his eyes. Though he couldn't help but find Jasper's wide toothy smile attractive, but there was a sadistic look in his eyes that worried him. "I think you're getting ahead of yourself. Let's get these questions done with, shall we?"
"What did you want to be when you were a child?" Jasper didn't even have to think about his question.
'A pretty normal question… Why do I feel like he has known from the start what he has wanted to ask me?' Shota thought to himself before he responded. A bit of nostalgia hitting him.
"Before I wanted to be a cop I wanted to do something with science. Doctor or even a biologist or something."
"Being a Police officer wasn't the first choice? Interesting." Jasper seemed genuinely intrigued.
"No." Shota drank the rest of his beer down. "Didn't think of being one until my little sister…" He paused, realizing he was getting too relaxed around Jasper.
Jasper watched as he hesitated, clearly amused he continued to eat. Shota's face hardened as he put his guard back up that had been softened by beer and exhaustion.
"Anyway. When did you start this," He emphasized vaguely at Jasper hoping he wouldn't need to elaborate.
Jasper chuckled. "Being a police officer? 5 years ago. I go in and out of cover a lot so it's easy for me to go silent for prolonged periods."
Shota narrowed his eyes and tilted his head, hoping he would continue with what he was really asking about.
Jasper chuckled heartily, his long pointer finger trailed slowly over the rim of his glass. "Oh, it seems I misunderstood. Hmm… About 16 or 17 years ago. And before that, well. We can talk about that another time."
Shota chewed the inside of his cheek, shaking his head as his leg tapped under the table. "See, that doesn't make sense to me. That would have made you a child, or you are much older than you look."
Jasper shrugged. "Take it how you want, but I'm being honest. Now it's my turn."
Shota grumbled, not really accepting that as the truth but he let it be for now. Waving his hand dismissively as he ate more of his food while waiting for Jasper's question.
"Who in the police force do you think is trustworthy?" Jasper's tone made Shota's stomach sink.
He wasn't sure who he could fully trust. He wanted to say all of them, but he knew that wasn't true. He wiped his mouth off, most of his food was gone at this point.
"I'm not sure. I feel like Hortsmann is trustworthy… But since Matchbox, I can't say for certain."
"That's smart of you Detective." Was his only response, but it seemed like he was hinting at something.
It was Shota's turn, his anxiety was rising but he wanted to know something even if Jasper wouldn't answer. "How did you get away from Gaut?"
Jasper put the last piece of his burger in his mouth and silently chewed with no reaction to what was asked. Once he swallowed he spoke plainly. "Now if I said exactly how, my secret hiding places wouldn't be so secret, now would they?"
He figured it wouldn't be answered. But Jasper continued. "The dairy lands have more abandoned lots than those that are being used. If you don't know what you're looking for, it can be right under your nose and you would never notice. Or, in this case, under Harvey Gaut's nose."
'That was definitely a hint at something… Did he somehow get below Gaut? If so, there has to be tunnels under the truck lot… It's worth investigating either way. Jasper said he can't directly tell me but he can leave bread crumbs, this game must be a way to do that.' Shota was lost in thought, being brought out of it by Jasper's phone vibrating on his seat.
Shota watched him as he grabbed out his phone and checked it, his expression souring he clicked his tongue. "Seems our game will have to end prematurely."
Shota raised a brow. "Is your boss demanding you for something?"
Jasper typed a message out lightning fast, his eyes flicking up to Shota's with a dark grin. "Something like that. One last question. Do you know Japanese?"
They both began cleaning up the table, Shota groaned a bit annoyed. "Yes, my parents mostly speak Japanese… why?"
Jasper didn't say anything. He wiped the table down meticulously and held the 2 glasses while Shota held the tray of trash. Shota just followed him outside.
Once outside Jasper wrapped his arm over Shota's shoulder and whispered near his ear. "There may be a job I need you for. You can get inside information about the Shankz. Until I message you about it, we are not to talk about it. Understand?"
Shota turned to look at him and practically hissed as he whispered. "A job? I'm not getting involved in your bullshit Jasper."
"Then you are a bigger fool than I thought you were." Jasper patted his shoulder and released him as he went to his car and rushed to get into it.
Shota fumed as he watched Jasper start his car. The roar of the engine made Shota a bit jealous. He looked into the car as Jasper rolled the passenger window down, catching a glimpse of the clean interior.
"Trust me Officer Hayate. It will be worth it. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty."
Before Shota could protest Jasper backed out and sped out of the lot.
Shota went home after that and tried to sleep. But his mind was too active despite his exhaustion. He laid in bed, half asleep and half awake. Expecting to hear that phone go off. When it finally did he shot out of bed in a panic and grabbed it.
Raith had texted him, <"In one week, there is a party the head of the Shankz is throwing. A chairman of the Yakuza is supposed to be there to secure a deal with some investors of ours. He is in our custody, but is uncooperative. You can pass as him, I will act as his partner. Do we have a deal?">
Shota sat on the edge of his bed, his hand firmly clasped over his mouth as he dragged it over his chin that was prickly from growing stubble.
"The head of the Shankz will be there… knowing this situation I can't tell Lemmons about it… am I really considering this?"
He turned his head, catching his reflection in his wall mirror. He felt like this was foolish, but it could prove to be worth it. Typing a message back to Raith he threw the phone on the bed behind him as he wallowed in his own self pity as it was sent.
<"What do I need to do?">