While lying down, Sasaki opened his eyes briefly to look at the white, gleaming ceiling above him as he heard repeated beatings from the side.
"Woah there, don't strain yourself."
Sasaki stared at the voice, which sounded deep and caring. I observed a man with dark hair and dark circles who had a stitched scar stretched diagonally across his face.
"You probably don't know me; my name is Kuroma, and I was the one who sent you on patrol duty."
Sasaki gave the man a half-assed glance as he struggled to open his eyes.
"Alright then, Sasaki, please cooperate with me and tell me everything that happened last night."
Kuroma smiled.
"Ah, let's see... I don't know."
Kuroma's smile faded away as he looked at Sasaki with bewilderment.
"Hm, okay... I couldn't blame you if you forgot everything that happened since your head got hit pretty hard."
"Yeah. I think I remember now."
Kuroma's lifeless eyes glowed as he moved closer to the white hospital bed.
"Tell me."
"Well, Nara and I were walking around patrolling around the block you told us to patrol at right."
"Mhm..."
"And after that, some white-cloaked men went to Nara, and they took her to the building, so I came to save her."
Kuroma leaned back for a little, not breaking eye contact with Sasaki.
"So, you're telling me Nara got ambushed by the former gang she was in, while the both of you are patrolling in a specific area a few kilometers away from the same abandoned complex you went to just to save her, is this correct?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Kuroma leaned closer at Sasaki.
"Well, why do you think they wanted to kidnap Nara?"
"Uhm, well maybe because she had to pay some kind of debt something like that. It's what she told me when we were patrolling."
Kuroma sighed as he stood up from the chair and tossed Sasaki an apple from the basket next to him, which slipped through Sasaki's hand and landed on his chest.
"Get-well fruit; you better eat that."
Sasaki took a bite from the apple with a confused look while he stared at Kuroma.
"Mmm, yreuh..."
"Don't speak while you're chewing."
He sighed and headed out the door, leaving Sasaki behind. He saw Nara in handcuffs, while Ryuji sat in the corridor, exhausted.
"Uncuff her."
Ryuji yawned as he took the keys from his back pocket and unlocked Nara's handcuffs.
"I guess you're telling the truth."
She stood up, scoffing with an irritated yet proud expression on her face, pointing her thumb at her and staring at Ryuji.
"See, I told you, yet you guys won't just believe me!"
Kuroma groaned and walked out into the hall. Nara, prompted by this, sighed profoundly as she entered Sasaki's room.
Sasaki took another piece of the apple on his palm and peered at the entrance as Nara excitedly walked in with Ryuji, who had a fatigued expression on his face—he looked around for the two nonstop last night.
"Hey, Sasaki! How's recovery doing? Good, right?"
She exclaimed excitedly as she leaped closer to Sasaki, who was confused at the time.
"When did you-"
Nara covered Sasaki's mouth with her rough palm and looked at Ryuji while Sasaki's speech was muffled.
"Hey Ryuji, why don't we celebrate his recovery by hanging out together right? We can do a lot of stuff; we can go to the arcade, the diner, the bar, and some karaoke!"
With a blank face, Ryuji replies with an annoyed tone.
"No, you guys will be patrolling for two weeks for twenty hours a day."
They both stared at Ryuji with blank expressions, unable to let go of their disbelief.
The two walked around the buildings as they patrolled the dark lanes at night. The city lights cast a faint reflection in the gaps as the two stepped in with an unhappy expression on their faces.
While the two are traveling along the alley, they decide to rest in the dumpster next to them, located atop a scrawny apartment complex.
Sasaki yawned as the black rings around his eyes became more obvious.
"I can't believe he was serious."
"Same here..."
"What time do you think is it?"
"Who knows, I don't have a watch."
"Useless."
Sasaki's eyesight became slightly blurry as he stared at the wall, which was mirrored by a blue and red light from the bar up close, as Nara dropped his shoulder.
Sasaki turned to face Nara for a moment, despite the images reproducing one by one, as his eyes grew sleepy.
"Dude, wake up. We're not done."
He shook her shoulder as he wobbled, losing his balance owing to sleepiness. Sasaki yawned, and he ended up sleeping the night beside the dumpster.
Morning arrived, and Sasaki gently opened his eyes, feeling something crawling under his clothes. He gazed beside Nara with an angry expression as he sought to open his eyes.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Nara yawned and rubbed off the sleepiness in her eyes, turning her head at Sasaki with confusion.
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not doing anything."
Sasaki suddenly felt a crushing pressure in his crotch. He suddenly looked down to find two enormous figures popping out of his dark cargo pants—it was rats.
In a panic, Sasaki leaped up and swayed his legs, nearly knocking Nara out, as he felt something tightly bite his rod.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Nara stood up in panic, backing off from Sasaki.
"Get it off for fuck sakes!"
"What?!"
"Rats under my pants!"
Nara fixed her gaze on Sasaki's legs, where the two rodent forms protruded from the boy's dark pants.
"Quickly!"
Nara dashed in his direction, kicking his marbles, while Sasaki collapsed on the ground in agony as she repeatedly kicked it in panic.
Nara sat in the stool from their apartment's kitchen as Ryuji looked at them both in confusion while holding a coffee mug.
Sasaki was dropped dead with his upper body leaning against the table, drooling.
"So, what exactly happened?"
"Rats bit his balls."
Ryuji stared at Sasaki's sorry expression, taking a sip of his coffee for a moment.
"I see."
Nara looked around and noticed Miyuki's room was empty.
"Where's the kid?"
"School."
"He can afford that?"
"Nah, the CAU is paying for her tuition."
"Mmm... makes sense."
Ryuji downed the mug and placed it at the marble table.
"Also, Yozo assigned us a case; for now we'll be under Kuroma's supervision during the case."
"Oh yeah? Tell me about it."
"According to the files, there's been countless sudden disappearances near Sumidagawa, most of them being women around the age of fifteen to seventeen."
Sasaki slowly awoke, regaining consciousness and sighing in disdain.
"Ugh, pedophiles."
"So you don't like children after all; I was starting to think you were into your sister."
Nara chuckled, mocking Sasaki.
"Shut up."
"Also, we have to ask you both a favor."
"What is it?"
"Try out the clothes if they fit."
Ryuji walked to his room, grabbing two high school uniforms for Nara and Sasaki. (Nara's uniform has a white uniform paired with a pink-colored palette, while Sasaki's is pure black.)
"Seriously."
Sasaki sighed.
"Dude, I worked so hard to tailor this."
"Bullshit, you paid for that!"
Nara shouted
"Jeez, just try them; it's not like it would hurt."
The two stripped in front of Ryuji, taking the school uniform from his grasp as they donned it—Nara's uniform paired well with her dark red eyes due to the light color palette, while Sasaki's suited him due to his dark circles.
"So, how does it feel? Also, just to say you both look great."
He sarcastically said as he took a cigar out of his back pocket.
"Let's just get over with this already."
During their chat, the doorbell rang, and Ryuji proceeded to see who it was, partially opening the door to reveal Kuroma waiting for them while dressed in traditional denim.
"I'm here to pick up the kids."
"Kuroma-san, perfect timing; make good use of these two, alright?"
"Will do."
Nara points her finger at Kuroma with an annoyed expression.
"Hey stitches, you did this?!"
"Yeah, also, you look cute."
"Fuck off!"
"You'll both be late for school; come with me."
Nara sighed angrily as they followed Kuroma to his car. Nara and Sasaki sat together in the back seat, slightly separated from each other, while Kuroma drove to the school.
"So, Ryuji told you the details about this mission, no?"
"He did."
Sasaki said, staring at the window as the car was running.
"I see, well, just in case I'll tell you what your roles would be. The two of you will be placed in different sections, but you will be in the same grade level."
"What grade are we in?"
Nara asked curiously.
"You'll both be in the tenth grade; also, if you have any chances of joining a minor school gang or maybe a fraternity during your investigation, you'll be authorized to be undercover."
"So we'll be like those spy guys in the movies, cool."
"If that's how you put it, well then yeah. But your main objective is to question anyone of anything suspicious that may be related to the Sumida Snatcher."
Nara scoffed, hearing such a lame name.
"Sumida Snatcher, what a lame name."
"Yeah, can't you think of anything better like
Minority Hunter or Kindergarten Scouter? "
Nara sighed in an annoyed tone.
"Are you blind? We're disguising ourselves as high schoolers, not kindergarteners."
"Are you two always like this?"
Nara leaned back and turned to Kuroma.
"Just tell us the description of the suspect."
"That's the funny thing; we don't."
In a moment, Kuroma stepped on the brakes as they arrived in front of the school gates, Kuroma unlocked the car doors and turned at the two.
"Well then, have a fun day at school, oh, and don't forget to tell me what you've learned later."
"Fuck off."
The two spoke in unison as they exited the truck and entered the campus, mentioning the green leaves spread around the entryway and the fragrance of tatami mats enclosing the area.
While strolling through campus with their bags, a mob of students joined them. Some men and women stared at them as they moved along, carefree.
"You think they think we're cool?"
Sasaki asked Nara as they heard murmurs from small groups in the crowd.
"Beats me, but if they do, it's probably just me."
"Hell nah, nobody normal would think a woman like you is cool."
"Oh yeah? Tell me, how am I not cool?!"
"Well, you don't know how to cook."
"Huh? My cooking is extremely delicious; Miyuki savored every bite of my salad last week!"
*Hell no! Your salad tastes like wet socks; you overcooked the sesame seeds, burned the lettuce, and mistook sugar for salt, and why are you even putting salt in a salad in the first place?! "
"It's so that the salad would have taste!"
"The fruits give it taste, you idiot!"
A bunch of delinquents with their uniforms unbuttoned approached the two with an arrogant grin on their cheeks.
"Hey, cutie, is this guy causing you some trouble?"
The two turned at the huge guy with a confused expression.
"Who the hell are you?"
"It's clear you're new around here."
The large man wrapped his arms around Nara with an arrogant grin on his face.
"I'm Ayano; you can call me whenever you need to deal with lowlifes like him, and if you need some company when you're alone, you can hit me up."
Ayano took out his phone and flashed his number in front of Nara, who glanced at it, indifferent.
"Nah, no thanks, not into men."
"Trust me, I'm no ordinary man. I'm better than those bitches you're not into, clearly better than this man who is clearly dying for your attention."
Sasaki scoffed, humored by Ayano's response.
"Heh, you call me the one dying for attention when you're hitting on a freshman."
"Hey kiddo, just leave us alone with this cutie and we'll spare you the trouble."
The guy with a buzzcut and a cut on his eyebrow replied to them with a serious expression.
"Cutie, what's so cute about her? I'd say she looks like a bulldog."
"At least I don't like my sister."
"At least I have a family."
Nara grumbled and moved behind Ayano, crossing her arms and giving a sly expression.
"Say, you're so manly, right? If you're all able to beat him to a pulp, I'll sleep with all of you."
Sasaki exhaled deeply, glancing at Nara with an annoyed expression.
"Whore."
Ayano cracked his neck and knuckles and gave Sasaki a motivated look.
"Well then, don't take this beating personally, kid."
In a moment, the man with the buzzcut pulls out a switch blade from his pocket and flashes it in front of Sasaki, a smirk on his face.
"Wow, scary."
Sasaki promptly delivers a right hook to the kid's temple and begins brawling with the delinquents around him; the crowd rapidly encircles them, phones out, recording as Sasaki pummeled down each of them one by one.
Sasaki spun, kicking Ayano's face as he dropped down to the ground. He then gripped his face tightly, staring at him with a frightening glare as he began to tremble in dread, piercing his bones in his skin as he gripped tighter.
"Well, well, who got a beating now?"
"Let go of me and fight me like a man!"
"Fight you like a man?"
Sasaki let go of Ayano's face and threw his body at the concrete floor.
"You're the one who cried out to your friends like a bitch."
Sasaki continuously kicks Ayano's groin, causing him to cry in agony as he does so.
The crowd around him recorded the incident with a worried expression.
"Should we call the principal?"
"I don't think he's even arrived yet..."
"Hey, break it up!"
The old teacher yelled as he gulped for air, sweating profusely, and broke through the crowd, putting his arms around Sasaki.
"Remember this you weak ass bitch, I'm Sasaki Jiketsu, and if I see you hitting on Nara again, I'll beat you ass for a second time!"
Nara rolled her eyes and looked at Ayano and his goons in their terrible state.
"Well said, I'm into women, not bitches. Anyway, I'll be going to class. Bye bye!"
She exclaimed enthusiastically as she walked into the school building.
"I hope you trip and fall on your way there!"
Sasaki went to face Ayano's fainted body and spat on his face, smirking.
"I'm starting to love this school thing."
To be continued... ———————————