[ A good night's sleep settles his nerves after the Heart of the Moon heist. Crow shoves everything to do with his father in a tight little box at the back of his mind and focuses on work. Touichi Kuroba is dead and no longer a relevant part of his life. He's just a man who tried to steal from the organisation. A thief who died about as honourably as he had lived. Crow can't afford to entertain affection for a dead man.
He wonders sometimes where his mother is. They tell him she's in Las Vegas but she never contacts him. She hasn't since Touichi died.
Crow shrugs off both worries and scrolls through the messages left to him by his boss. They read like work appointments to the casual eye. No-one would suspect that the young man slouching beside them on the train is a trained killer.
He's gone for the 'nondescript teenager' look again. Like that time, a few nights back, for the Heart of the Moon. He ought to disguise himself considering where he's headed, but surely no-one else will recognise him. His family hadn't been close to anyone except the Nakamoris during their time in Ekoda. 'Kaito' considers the chances of running into their daughter again to be slim.
In and out. A quick look at the house they used to live in and he'll be satisfied.
He looks up sharply when the lights flicker off. The train slows and grinds to a halt, well before their arrival at the next station. Not a few seconds later, an announcement filters through the speakers. ]
Attention passengers: there seems to be a problem with the power cables on this line. Please be patient while we address the issue.
[ Blowing out a sigh, he folds his arms and shuts his eyes. Great. Isn't Japan's rail system supposed to be reliable? ]
[Her father had not been pleased, finding her at the Heart of the Moon heist. She'd gotten an earful that still rings a little in her ears, along with new restrictions -- when she can go out, how long she can stay out, when she has to check in. She's not too worried about those actually restricting her overmuch per se; Nakamori, as always, tends to be obsessive about his work . . . too obsessive and time-constrained to pay the attention that he intends. Rules slip by the wayside, and punishments go unenforced.]
[While that kind of carelessness would be something that some teenagers would dream about, for Aoko, it only makes her feel worse. Already she's "stealing" from her father. This just makes one more thing to add to the pile.]
[To ease things -- if only in her mind -- Aoko had gone out of her way that day. Literally out of her way: Out of Ekoda to get the ingredients for a dish that her father especially liked -- a dish that her mother used to make once upon a time. She'd intended to try her hand at it that evening and have it waiting for him as a surprise. Balancing the bag of her purchases on her lap, she leans her chin into her hand, staring out at the city sweeping past without really seeing it.]
[Kaito. That's the other thing that lingers on her conscience. Crow had unleashed an image of Kuroba Toichi that night, and Kaito had planned to stay for the heist -- which meant that he must have seen it.]
[How had he reacted to that?]
[And what was the connection to Crow? It seemed as though there must be one. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that Kaito would be at that event, visible for the first time in years, and have someone like Crow there -- someone who had obviously known Toichi -- at the same time.]
[Didn't it?]
[She wrestles with it. Sometimes it seems like it couldn't be a coincidence; sometimes it seems like it's just her mind trying to make sense of something that doesn't fit. She goes back and forth with it, weighing each detail she can remember, and can't come to a decision.]
[Worry for Kaito doesn't ebb either way. If he saw his father reflected in those mirrors, she can imagine that's bad enough. But if there was more to Crow's intentions than just being there for the heist . . .]
[She has no proof. Not even very good reasoning. But without any ability to connect to the boy with the crooked smile and the wild hair . . . worry is all she has. Crow has shown himself to be more than willing to use those knives. The images that keep flickering into her brain squeeze at her heart, and one knee bounces tightly up and down with withheld energy.]
[And then suddenly the train grinds to a halt.]
Attention passengers: there seems to be a problem with the power cables on this line. Please be patient while we address the issue.
[Groans and murmurs of irritation erupt throughout the car that she's in. Aoko looks up, startled as though pulled out of a dream, staring around at the passengers as though she's just remembered where she is. Shaking her head quickly, she twists, glancing behind her at the other occupants of the car. She's been in the front corner in one of the seats that face forward; she hasn't looked up since she first got on.]
[Her eyes fall on a bushy head several rows back.]
[. . . It can't--]
[Can it?]
[She hesitates. She finds herself more tentative than before, watching the bushy head for some moments before she shifts her bag to the seat. She trails across the space in between them, slipping around a businessman snapping irritated Korean into his phone and a woman trying to soothe her crying baby.]
[Even when she's close to him, when she's sure it's him . . . she hesitates.]
[ He tenses upon hearing the name. Of all the luck--! Crow takes a composing breath before looking up, his lazy, fed-up countenance turning into mild surprise upon seeing her. ]
Oh. Hey. [ Less-than-enthusiastic reaction; he's obviously trying but it's also obvious that he's forcing it a bit. ] Didn't think I'd see you here.
[ Why wouldn't she be on this line? It was the one to Ekoda after all. But there had to be some higher god laughing at him for boarding the exact same train and carriage, and to get caught in a power outage with her. He doesn't want to deal with public niceties right now. ]
[She can hear those conflicting motives in his voice. The lack of enthusiasm makes her uncertain, but he's also trying. That's some encouragement, anyway -- even if it isn't much.]
[She tries to talk herself out of the idea that he's just being polite, or she might easily talk herself back to her seat right there. He does potentially have good reason for being out of sorts.]
[She offers a lopsided smile, genuine, though not fully able to conceal her uncertainty.] I didn't expect to see Kaito either.
[She'd like to have a more honest conversation with him -- something that doesn't involve all the public niceties, but she's not sure how to get around them. This is quickly settling into stiff politeness, and that bothers her. She tries to summon a brighter tone:] Don't tell me you came back to live in Ekoda too?
[ Immediately she gets a snort. ] No. Of course not. I have my own place.
[ A small, tidy apartment that only held what he needed. A couple of sentimental objects maybe, but nothing that he couldn't easily throw into a bag in a hurry.
He takes a quick peek at his phone screen when it vibrates with a message - "20.45" - and then switches the display off. ]
[Mostly it had been a throwaway question -- something to keep things moving. It didn't make much sense for him to be living back in Ekoda; surely in a year's time, she would have caught sight of him at least once before. With the answer, though, she learns something she didn't expect:]
You're not living with your mom?
[Her eyes flick briefly towards his phone when it vibrates, but the number means nothing to her. She doesn't give it a second thought. His question about the heist is much more surprising.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
whiteofcrime) wrote2017-01-06 03:26 am
On a train, post-Heart of the Moon...
He wonders sometimes where his mother is. They tell him she's in Las Vegas but she never contacts him. She hasn't since Touichi died.
Crow shrugs off both worries and scrolls through the messages left to him by his boss. They read like work appointments to the casual eye. No-one would suspect that the young man slouching beside them on the train is a trained killer.
He's gone for the 'nondescript teenager' look again. Like that time, a few nights back, for the Heart of the Moon. He ought to disguise himself considering where he's headed, but surely no-one else will recognise him. His family hadn't been close to anyone except the Nakamoris during their time in Ekoda. 'Kaito' considers the chances of running into their daughter again to be slim.
In and out. A quick look at the house they used to live in and he'll be satisfied.
He looks up sharply when the lights flicker off. The train slows and grinds to a halt, well before their arrival at the next station. Not a few seconds later, an announcement filters through the speakers. ]
Attention passengers: there seems to be a problem with the power cables on this line. Please be patient while we address the issue.
[ Blowing out a sigh, he folds his arms and shuts his eyes. Great. Isn't Japan's rail system supposed to be reliable? ]
no subject
[While that kind of carelessness would be something that some teenagers would dream about, for Aoko, it only makes her feel worse. Already she's "stealing" from her father. This just makes one more thing to add to the pile.]
[To ease things -- if only in her mind -- Aoko had gone out of her way that day. Literally out of her way: Out of Ekoda to get the ingredients for a dish that her father especially liked -- a dish that her mother used to make once upon a time. She'd intended to try her hand at it that evening and have it waiting for him as a surprise. Balancing the bag of her purchases on her lap, she leans her chin into her hand, staring out at the city sweeping past without really seeing it.]
[Kaito. That's the other thing that lingers on her conscience. Crow had unleashed an image of Kuroba Toichi that night, and Kaito had planned to stay for the heist -- which meant that he must have seen it.]
[How had he reacted to that?]
[And what was the connection to Crow? It seemed as though there must be one. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that Kaito would be at that event, visible for the first time in years, and have someone like Crow there -- someone who had obviously known Toichi -- at the same time.]
[Didn't it?]
[She wrestles with it. Sometimes it seems like it couldn't be a coincidence; sometimes it seems like it's just her mind trying to make sense of something that doesn't fit. She goes back and forth with it, weighing each detail she can remember, and can't come to a decision.]
[Worry for Kaito doesn't ebb either way. If he saw his father reflected in those mirrors, she can imagine that's bad enough. But if there was more to Crow's intentions than just being there for the heist . . .]
[She has no proof. Not even very good reasoning. But without any ability to connect to the boy with the crooked smile and the wild hair . . . worry is all she has. Crow has shown himself to be more than willing to use those knives. The images that keep flickering into her brain squeeze at her heart, and one knee bounces tightly up and down with withheld energy.]
[And then suddenly the train grinds to a halt.]
Attention passengers: there seems to be a problem with the power cables on this line. Please be patient while we address the issue.
[Groans and murmurs of irritation erupt throughout the car that she's in. Aoko looks up, startled as though pulled out of a dream, staring around at the passengers as though she's just remembered where she is. Shaking her head quickly, she twists, glancing behind her at the other occupants of the car. She's been in the front corner in one of the seats that face forward; she hasn't looked up since she first got on.]
[Her eyes fall on a bushy head several rows back.]
[. . . It can't--]
[Can it?]
[She hesitates. She finds herself more tentative than before, watching the bushy head for some moments before she shifts her bag to the seat. She trails across the space in between them, slipping around a businessman snapping irritated Korean into his phone and a woman trying to soothe her crying baby.]
[Even when she's close to him, when she's sure it's him . . . she hesitates.]
. . . Kaito?
sorry about the wait, work
Oh. Hey. [ Less-than-enthusiastic reaction; he's obviously trying but it's also obvious that he's forcing it a bit. ] Didn't think I'd see you here.
[ Why wouldn't she be on this line? It was the one to Ekoda after all. But there had to be some higher god laughing at him for boarding the exact same train and carriage, and to get caught in a power outage with her. He doesn't want to deal with public niceties right now. ]
I know that feeling. Welcome back!
[She tries to talk herself out of the idea that he's just being polite, or she might easily talk herself back to her seat right there. He does potentially have good reason for being out of sorts.]
[She offers a lopsided smile, genuine, though not fully able to conceal her uncertainty.] I didn't expect to see Kaito either.
[She'd like to have a more honest conversation with him -- something that doesn't involve all the public niceties, but she's not sure how to get around them. This is quickly settling into stiff politeness, and that bothers her. She tries to summon a brighter tone:] Don't tell me you came back to live in Ekoda too?
no subject
[ A small, tidy apartment that only held what he needed. A couple of sentimental objects maybe, but nothing that he couldn't easily throw into a bag in a hurry.
He takes a quick peek at his phone screen when it vibrates with a message - "20.45" - and then switches the display off. ]
...How was the heist? Seems Dove got away again.
no subject
You're not living with your mom?
[Her eyes flick briefly towards his phone when it vibrates, but the number means nothing to her. She doesn't give it a second thought. His question about the heist is much more surprising.]
And you didn't see her? I thought you were there.
[Does that mean that he didn't see Toichi?]
[Is that better or worse if he didn't?]
no subject
[ Lying about it would open him up to slip ups later. Better to be semi-honest. The best lies had a basis in truth. ]
Didn't want to stick around after... [ He let a gesture capture the rest of his words. She had been there too; she could fill in things herself. ]