2025-10-01: End of the Line
- Log: End of the Line
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Goro Akechi, Katsuya Suou
- Where: Sumaru Police Department
- OOC Date: 2025-10-1
- IC Date: Friday, July 20 2012
- Summary: Myunghon's safehouse is raided, and Tsubasa is secured. Thankfully, Katsuya and Akechi cut in before Ezoe gets a false confession out of them -- and Katsuya is at least able to move them to custodial medical facilities, despite it being a much more difficult task to let them go free.
- Content warning: Aggressive policing
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
At two in the morning, a fist slams on the door to Tsubasa's safehouse.
"Police! Open up!"
Tsubasa is at this point deep in slumber, which means they're jolted groggily from those nightmares by the cops banging on their door. "Fuck," they hiss, as they roll over, grab their blond wig and plant it on their head, shove their binder into the pocket of the shorts they were sleeping in, and stumble out of bed to hurry to the bolthole. Their hands shake as they push the tatami mat away from it, and they need to take precious seconds to remember the code -- 1 0, 2 8...
They don't even remember what Myunghon said about it being a tumbler lock, as they haphazardly tug the mat up over the hatch and lock it behind them, bolting down the hidden tunnel. A few seconds later, the police burst into the apartment -- and of course, the first thing one of them notices is the skewed mat.
The problem with tumbler locks, as Tsubasa really ought to know, is...
... it doesn't take long for the cops to break it, and climb in after them.
Which means, as Tsubasa's running for their life, they hear behind them --
"Police! Stop, or I'll shoot!"
-- and, well, Tsubasa knows enough about the cops to know that's not an empty threat, by now, so tragically they do stop. "B--be cool, man! What the fuck?!"
"Hands on your head!" The officer tramps over to them, issuing those commands as if they were a dangerous fugitive who has killed and will kill again, and Tsubasa yelps as he shoves them against the rough wall of the tunnel to cuff their hands behind them.
"Ow! Fuck, dude!" They cry out, tears stinging the corners of their eyes. "You're hurtin' me!"
"What did you expect when you made our jobs difficult," the cop replies, with no kindness at all, as he yanks them by the arm back to his fellows. They end up having to uncuff them to get them out of the tunnel, given the ladder, but there was no hope they'd be able to escape.
They're escorted to the Sumaru Police Department, and...
... well, by the time the work-day starts for normal people, Tsubasa's been in the interrogation room for some hours. Tragically, it's only now that they bother to send word to the Tokyo Police that they've apprehended Tsubasa, in order to keep their case manager in the know... though they assure her, in the same breath, that it's not necessary for her to come all the way out here. And, of course, officers on the day shift are just now coming in to work... and that goes double for any detectives who might be working alongside the police.
Sergeant Ezoe drew the short straw; he was on night duty. He's still in there, with them, letting them get more exhausted and upset as he tries to get a confession out of them. (With one hand cuffed to the table, they're not going anywhere soon.) Cold, too: they were sleeping in a tank top and shorts, and remain that way now, though the police have done the worst thing possible and confiscated the binder they took with them. They didn't have any time to apply concealer today, given how they were woken up, and that means their scars are fully displaying the fact that tanning beds struggle to touch scar tissue; the right side of their body is covered with stark and at times raised pale scarring, revealing that they have a normal Japanese skin tone under all that fake tan.
"I was hoping you'd be reasonable," Ezoe sighs, "but I see I have to make some things clear. Seki-san," which is how he's been addressing them, to neatly sidestep the issue of their first name -- and of course to reassure them they're just in for questioning instead of convicted of a crime, given how they still have an honourific attached to their name -- "we're well aware of your connections to the White Dragon Syndicate."
"Th--the fuck's that?" Tsubasa lies, though their freaked out expression tells another story, entirely.
"You know what I'm talking about," Ezoe assures them. "We've suspected for some time that your hiding location was associated with the Hakuryu... and you even risked being convicted for assaulting an officer in order to protect the Syndicate's leader." He slides over several photographs of the Cardboard Dragon which feature glimpses of Tsubasa, entering and leaving the establishment. "And we have photographic proof of your presence in one of their fronts."
"S-so what?!" Tsubasa demands, hands balling to fists. "I like card games, man! That's it!"
Ezoe pre-empts their unspoken desire, though, as his fist slams on the metal table. (Tsubasa jumps, staring at him with wide eyes... and it's possible the bruises on their face are something they got during the arson at Aoba Park, rather than having anything to do with their rough arrest. Certainly, that's how it was documented.) "Isn't it true that your affiliations with a foreign gang have been driving you to commit terrorism for years, right under our noses?! Answer me!"
"Fuck, man!" Tsubasa's voice grows choked, as they snap: "Would you decide on a fuckin' story already?! Like, fuck! What do you want me to say, man?! I don't fuckin' know! I dunno nothin', what do you want?!"
And anyone seeing this will be able to tell how close Ezoe is to securing a confession... even though Tsubasa didn't start those fires at all.
Is it possible for criminals to confess to crimes they didn't commit...?
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
>they found her
>in interrogation at konan
Akechi woke up from his mostly sleepless night to find that text message from his source. He stares at it gravely for a few moments, not bothering to correct the misgendering.
And then he takes his time. Putting himself together, pressing his clothes, getting a cup of black tea. Sipping it. Rinsing his teeth off after, putting his case files together for the day.
Then he double checks his homework, before dropping it off at a courier on the way to be placed on Saeko-sensei's desk.
He's rather unhurried and seemingly unbothered by this turn of events as he takes the bus from Narumi over to Konan, preventing his appearance from being. Instead hitting a number on his phone in the address book.
"What is it? You usually don't call this time of the morning." Sae responded, terse, as Akechi smirked, "Good morning to you too, Sae-san. About my request to go over the case files at the Sumaru City Police Department..."
"This again? We don't have jurisdiction over local cases, Captain Shimazu is processing your request-"
"Let's call it instead a much smaller request than that, over something the SIU has full jurisdiction over."
"... I'm listening."
-=-=-
"Ah yes, good morning ladies." He said, all smiles to the Officer Receptionist manning the front desk who all smiled at him, "Akechi-kun! We always love it when you drop by..."
"Aha... I'm happy that I'm so well regarded around here." He isn't by the higher ups, but the ladies absolutely don't know that, "Is Sergeant Suou in today? I'd like to drop off some rather urgent paperwork."
"Oh! Yes I believe he is... I could go check if he's available?"
The sound of a fax machine behind her made Akechi smile, "Do you mind if I use your fax machine while I'm waiting for you to find him waiting? I need to send in some of my assignments for the day."
"Of course! Anything for you Akechi-kun."
-=-=-
~*Cut to*~
Akechi presenting a still warm request by the Special Investigations Unit Office requesting SIU involvement in the case of the 'World Day for International Justice' arson a case of national import.
It of course, does not take over the case and assert full jurisdiction, only... a little bit. Merely asks that a representative be involved in the process.
"I thought it best to place this directly in your hands. You know how it is with paperwork... so incredibly easy for it to get lost while being processed."
But, it puts Katsuya's neck on the line here, being the bearer of bad news that others might have simply conveniently tied up indefinitely andor lost.
"And now, I don't suppose I might solicit an escort to the interrogation room?"
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
Katsuya had known about it more or less the moment he'd come into the station this morning-- bright and early, as it always is on his day shifts. Would it have been better if they'd turned themselves in earlier? Or would anything have changed?
Arson isn't his jurisdiction -- homicide is. And he'd been off-duty at the time. Yet, as a police detective and a witness on the scene of what had transpired, he had ended up involved in the investigation, if in a somewhat unorthodox way for a cop.
That is, until it had been apparent that no one wanted to hear from him or his version of events. The more he becomes involved in situations like these, the less it seems that he's able to do. Either, someone here at the station with the force to do so is pulling the strings -- exactly as Akechi had suggested was the case -- or...
It's not a thought he can allow himself to think, or he'd have to grapple with graver injustices than the one before him tonight. He'd made up his mind about a week ago to not mention Joker again in a report, but how could he not, this time around? What story could he tell that would secure Tsubasa's freedom that was stronger than the truth? And the moment he'd done so, he'd simply been told 'that was sufficient' as a report and that was that. He's not stupid. He knows what that really means, at this point. He's told them something someone doesn't want them to hear.
And so, the interrogation of Tsubasa had ensued once they were brought in, in spite of his report. His attempt to even go downstairs and speak with the officer in charge of their interrogation had been heartily rebuffed: did someone learn from the time he had interrupted Ichiba's interrogation of Myunghon? Or is he overthinking it, again?
It's not a bad miracle, when the opening comes. But it's not really a miracle, either, is it?
"Akechi-kun." Katsuya glances up from his computer's screen: he's been doing some legal reading, it seems, in that half-hour since his last attempt to enter the interrogation room. He stands in the moment after that, taking the paperwork from him. "Let me see," he says, his gaze skimming across the front page. "...So that's how it is. You will be in the room as their representative?" On one hand, Akechi is a dedicated and well-known young man. On the other hand, he is young. Perhaps the latter will work in Tsubasa's favor. "...Meanwhile, these papers..."
Will get Katsuya in the room himself, of course. Is there a downside here? In the moment, he's not looking or thinking about that factor at all--
"Of course. Allow me to lead the way."
Paperwork, as it turns out, really will get you everywhere, as long as it's the right sort. He's known this, and still, it's startling to experience.
But that still pales before the sight of Tsubasa Seki, in their nightclothes (more or less) and handcuffed to the table. "..." How long have they been like this?
He shouldn't say anything. "Ezoe-san. A minor should be permitted to dress himself." He shouldn't say anything like that. But it's an outrage, isn't it, and even he can't keep calm--
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"I want you to tell me the truth--!" Is what Ezoe is demanding, quite tired from going overtime, when Katsuya and Akechi manage to make their entrance.
Tsubasa's gaze snaps to the door, their breath shallow. "H--hey!" They call out, their voice a touch shrill. "Akechi-san? Sergeant Suou? H-help me out here, man, this shit is crazy!"
"We retrieved the suspect," and Ezoe reduces Tsubasa down to yogisha, as he says it, that deeply-maligned term for a suspect, rather than bothering any more to respect them, "early this morning. Since Seki-yogisha resisted arrest --"
"Fuck off, man, you guys pointed a fuckin' gun at me, why wouldn't I bolt?!" Tsubasa interjects, hot and wild.
"Be quiet!" Ezoe snaps, slamming his fist on the table again. Tsubasa flinches, and clams right back up. "As I was saying, the suspect gave us no opportunity to extend common courtesy. In any case, I'm almost done, here, so is there any reason you're interrupting my work?"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Perhaps all those factors will work in Tsubasa's favor... after all, it is a station of older men. The younger officers such as Katsuya don't have much power to defy their superiors.
But Akechi isn't an officer now, is he?
"Why thank you." He says with a smile, as if this worked out exactly as he expected. After all, it'd be easy enough for Katsuya to choose the path of least resistance.
But then he wouldn't have become a cop, if that were the case, now would he?
As they enter the room, Akechi surveys Tsubasa's status, expression quite grave as Katsuya points out the inhumanity of leaving them in this state of undress.
The back and forth is something he allows to continue for a moment, until he asks a question, "Ah yes, Ezoe-san I take it?" Given that Katsuya said it, he says, smiling cheerfully, "I'm here on behalf of the SIU's office. Given that the perpetrator struck an exhibit of national import, on a day celebrating International Justice... the higher ups-"
Sae Niijima counts as one of them! No need to mention it's singular rather than plural. "-have asked that a representative be involved in proceedings. That representative would be me. I'm Goro Akechi, perhaps you've heard of me?"
There's something of a smugness to that faux affable smile now, "And I have to say... I'm a little surprised by what I'm seeing here today." Is he too going to complain about Tsubasa's state?
"This individual in no way matches the description of the suspect in question. And I can say unequivocally..."
His smile fades, his expression lingers on Ezoe's eyes, "... that you've arrested the wrong person. I was on site that day giving an interview... and witnessed the culprit assault this individual with my own eyes."
Naturally he doesn't say it was the Joker Killer...! Who would believe that? But he can say that the culprit's description looks nothing like Tsubasa's.
There's a small shake of his head with closed eyes, as his tone grows grim, "The prosecutor's office won't be happy about this one... none of them would be willing to stake their reputations on contradictory accounts..."
A single eye opens, peeking out under his bangs, "...when even the authenticity of a confession might be called into question..."
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
Perhaps if he'd stopped and thought about it, he would have seen the move for what it really is. After all, there's a reason why the phrase 'don't kill the messenger' exists.
But, would it have stopped him from proceeding to the interrogation room with paperwork in hand? He became an officer for a particular reason, and even if the chance that his dream slips out of his grasp entirely is a very real threat, it's also true that he can't simply turn a blind eye.
Especially not now that he has found an opening. Perhaps he would have found one in time, but he most certainly has one in hand now, and in the manner of the knight on the chessboard, sweeps in accordingly. In that sense, he's predictable.
Ezoe, too, is his colleague. Almost, he's a more tolerable man than Ishiba. Almost. It takes him a moment to collect himself -- as long as it takes Ezoe to explain why the 'suspect' is still in their sleepwear -- and that's all the time that Akechi needs to introduce the reason why they're both here.
"As he is not an officer with standing at this department," Katsuya explains, "I thought it prudent for Akechi-kun to have an escort." Okay, that's a slight white lie: Akechi asked for one, but it's probably not a misstatement that the young man mislikes. Better to have the support of your seniors, even if your senior is himself a bit of a junior when all is said and done.
...besides...
"I have the paperwork he presented in hand here. I can confirm that it is in order," he says, and then, because he's a prudent person, he doesn't say a goddamn thing about the fact that Akechi is saying the same thing he'd said. ...Just... with a little more tact about the culprit in question. Lessons for later, Suou-kun. Gaze forward, his expression perfectly neutral, Katsuya doesn't make eye contact with Ezoe or Tsubasa. He says. Nothing.
At least, not until Akechi's last comment. About the authenticity of the confession.
"...Is that so, Akechi-kun?" Let it not be said that Katsuya is absolutely incapable of dissembling: he can, when given the time to prepare, play along with the game. He looks at his senior at last. "...Ezoe-san."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Let me see that," Ezoe snaps, with all the grouchiness one expects from a night duty guy working overtime, as he reaches for the paperwork. Flip, flip... "... mm, it's all in order. You've never handed in anything which isn't, though, so that's hardly a surprise..." For all Katsuya is unpopular in his department, Ezoe has to recognise his skill with paperwork.
And so, "Of course," Ezoe puts a welcoming smile onto his face, when Akechi asks whether he's heard of him. (He's real tired, though, so it's fraying at the edges a little.) "So the SIU is concerned, are they..."
He leaves 'we're HANDLING it' unsaid, because God help him, he's better at his diplomacy checks than that. He's thinking it, though.
"Hmh," he grunts, scowling. "Who can say? Reports from that day are deeply... confused." Not that he'd accuse the shining gem Goro Akechi of being crazy, of course. Let alone his colleague! "That's why I've been working for hours to get the truth..." But Katsuya interjects, and Ezoe sighs a deep sigh, his chair scraping mercilessly as he stands. "Look. If you can do better,"
He steps towards the door, dark bags beneath his eyes. "... by all means, I'll hand the investigation over to you. It's past time I clocked out, anyway." Seriously, he's too tired for this shit. If the boss wants to chew him out for it, he can do it after he's slept a solid nine hours.
It's a wonder how sometimes, the sheer demands of night duty can turn a situation in someone's favour.
It's only once Ezoe closes the door behind him that Tsubasa takes a breath. "Holy shit, man," they say, clearly shaken, deeply freaked out. "T--that guy's been barkin' at me for hours, man... I-I mean, it musta been hours." They're not wrong; even accounting for the time it would have taken to process them before they were put in this room, that still leaves a good amount of time for Ezoe to have worked them over. That they're not sure, though...
Well, it paints a certain picture.
"I was only hidin' out 'cuz t-they already reckoned I did it," they insist, their voice a touch choked. "It's my father, man... he's in with the cops here, he musta told 'em to string me up! B-but he's the one who put my mom up to callin' the hit to start with, man!"
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It's a white lie he absolutely appreciates. Indeed... he suspects white lies of that sort are the only ones that Katsuya might not grapple with telling.
"It is. That is the responsibility placed upon those in the prosecutor's office. The public demands certainty when it comes to those who are punished for these most despicable crimes." He says, in answer to Katsuya, without looking at Ezoe, like he's lecturing him instead.
But they both know otherwise.
Indeed, Akechi can read between the lines. It's how he can be so charming when he wants to be. But he's not trying to charm here. He's swinging his credentials around like a baseball bat, and daring Ezoe to go against him.
"I can see how they might read as confusing after spending so many hours in an interrogation after one's shift is over." He says with a sympathetic tone to Ezoe's perspective, though of course he's hardly hiding that he's being a sassy little shit who doesn't believe that for a moment.
"Why thank you. I'll take it from here, under Officer Suou's supervision." He says with a smile, "After all, since they were assaulted by the culprit, there's quite a lot of information that might be gleaned from their account, don't you think?"
After Ezoe leaves, Akechi only now puts down his brief case, "Tactics of that sort aren't unusual by... certain individuals within the police department." He replies softly, to Tsubasa, who's obviously shaken. "Take a moment to compose yourself."
Before they then note that their father is in league with the police. There's a momentary dark look.
"...I see." That certainly rankles him, in a spot deeper down than he expected it to hit.
"Do you know this for a fact?" He asks gently, "You said 'must have'... that implies an element of uncertainty." He then notes, "I'm not asking because I doubt you, Seki-san. Only... if there is evidence of this level of corruption, it might change our approach."
In other words Akechi might have to give his Shadow a visit for a Mental Shutdown if he's that sloppy.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
The paperwork is in order, because Katsuya wouldn't settle for anything less. It might have taken a little extra time to make sure everything was filled out properly, but-- diligence is its own reward, as Ezoe demonstrates for him. Katsuya, as befitting a hard-working junior, doesn't so much as blink, let alone say a single word regarding. It's what was expected of him, and that's the end of it.
He doesn't miss the fact that Akechi gets a much more welcome smile (or a smile at all) than he did. But of course, he's been making trouble for everyone here lately. ...And perhaps some more than others.
"Indeed," he answers Akechi. "Due diligence must be taken in these cases, or it is a strike against Japan itself..." It's almost like they practiced this.
They didn't.
Reports are deeply confused, Ezoe says, and if someone were to look at Katsuya in this moment, there's a flicker of frustration on his face. It's there and gone: blink and you'll miss it. But it is there. He is frustrated. Justice delayed is justice denied, as the saying goes: so it was for the Romans and so it is now in modern Japan. But he also knows that if he makes a fuss now, he'll...
However hot the fire inside him might burn, he needs to stay calm, for Tsubasa's case. However he might feel about being thwarted, he at least can recognize that Akechi, with his youth, fame, and connections to the SIU, has a better change of swaying the officer.
But finally, the opportunity arises for the both of them. "We will take it from here, Ezoe-san," Katsuya says. "I have only just begun my shift. I will supervise Akechi-kun appropriately. Please, go and get some rest."
Ezoe may regret this later. Or maybe not! He's dead-tired, and perhaps if certain others wanted this settled right, 'they' ought to have sent him proper backup and thus avoided Suou (or Akechi?) inserting himself into the situation.
But it's too late for them now.
And then, at last!
"I am afraid he is correct," Katsuya says, fidgeting with his sunglasses. "At times, it is... permissable, given the gravity of the crimes in question," he says, because he believes this to be the case. "In matters such as these, however..."
Or in matters such as Myunghon's, he's left to think again: is it permissable, even if someone has committed a crime? A grave crime?
...Doesn't he already know the answer?
But that's neither here nor there. Tsubasa says that they were hiding out when they were brought in, which explains their manner of dress. Katsuya, ever the one with his eyes on the prize, regards Tsubasa for a moment, then looks pointedly away. "Do you... require a change of clothes, Seki-kun?"
Akechi, though, addresses the elephant in the room. Katsuya's eyes widen a touch. If Tsubasa's father pressed their mother to make that call, and it's true now that he was in with the police, then...? "If you please, Seki-kun. Any solid evidence for this that you have will help." It's just also the case that he's considering a very different approach than Akechi is.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa absolutely gets a horrible weighing stone in their gut when Akechi talks about the most despicable crimes. But they at least chase Ezoe out of there, and...
"Y-yeah," Tsubasa sniffs, burying their face in a hand, trying their best to get a grip on themself. Katsuya offers to actually get them some real clothes, and they say, "... s-sure. Cops bangin' on the door past midnight... didn't have time to do nothin' but bolt. Uh," they add, gaze shifting self-consciously, "if ya can get my binder back, that'd be cool... I grabbed it, but they took it off me." A moment's pause, and -- "... it's, uh, like a blue'n black elastic tank," they realise they'd better describe what a binder even is for Katsuya, who has no idea about anything but is clearly trying very hard.
"It's... i-it's, uh..." Their free hand drops, to grasp at their opposite arm. "When I tried to stop Officer Ishiba from beatin' Yeo-sama to death, that guy, t-that... Ezoe, right? He recognised me... a-and he knew 'bout my father's company. Went way less hard on me after that, too... charges got dropped an' everythin'. S--Sergeant Suou was there, y-you 'member that shit, right?" Surely Katsuya hasn't forgotten the way Hanzou acted, anyway. "But now, they're goin' after my ass this hard... s-so it's gotta be 'cuz father told 'em to, ain't it?"
(Otoosama, they call him, distinct from the okaasan they use for their mother.)
One might note in their initial reports -- that Tsubasa is reportedly showing signs of deep paranoia. They found pages and pages of conspiratorial rambling taped up to the walls, trying to find connections between individuals such as their psychiatrist Denji Inoue, their father, the political aide Kurou Nagasawa, Sergeant Ezoe, and the Joker Killer.
"Um... my mom?" They add, rubbing at their arm. "She -- she called me, the other day, uh, last Saturday? S-she was real upset, an' she was off her fuckin' head, like, she takes drugs an' shit... sayin' how she wanted to hear my voice, wanted to talk to me. She told me, uh, father was due for a promotion, he just needed to... to do somethin', I dunno, I was more worried 'bout whether I'd have to talk to him when it happened." Tsubasa scowls, darkly. "But she said to just, leave it her to her. Said it wasn't my fault, said she loved me... but she kept callin' me h--, her baby girl, an' I ain't no fuckin' girl... guess I snapped at her, an' she fell over herself apologisin', which -- it's weird, right, she don't take fault for that shit... she was just sayin' how she failed me as a mother an' shit... I made some excuse to stop talkin', but she never stopped bein' nice about it or nothin'. Never said, like, she was gonna put a hit on me, nothin'..."
Tsubasa sniffs. "B--but she was talkin' bout his promotion -- so it had to be that, right? He was jus' -- sick of havin' to deal with me! Like -- like -- he was tryin' to get me to kill myself before that, y'know? When he hit me... he was goin' on 'bout how I oughta do him a favour an' hurry up an' die, since I weren't gonna get married and make myself some other guy's problem. He wanted me dead, man," Tsubasa insists, again, their tone ragged. "Jus', he's fuckin' impatient..."
They pause, looking at the hand still resting on the table, given there's little else for it to go. "H--hey," they ask, averting their gaze to avoid any kind of insult, "can... can one'a you guys untie me from this fuckin' thing? I ain't gonna pull a runner, man, ain't gonna work in here..."
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
It is useful having a Good Cop around to play off of in these moments. Akechi must admit. They didn't practice that at all, but it does what it needed to.
It applied pressure on Ezoe to stop what he was doing.
Akechi isn't as fidgety about the state of the system, "Anything to achieve the high bar that prosecutors require to take a case to court..." He says, as if simply stating a matter of fact, without speaking on the permissibility of it.
Should it ever be permissible? He knows it shouldn't be, but it is.
"I'd offer to take care of your things, but I believe that'd be overstepping." Which is quite alright by him, leaving that to Sergeant Suou on retrieving Tsubasa's Binder.
Tsubasa explains their 'evidence' though, and Akechi places a hand upon his chin, ruminating upon this issue, "I see. His connections must be quite highly placed for a cop to ignore the stigma..." He trails off, because he can be discreet in a way, but he also nearly said it. 'The stigma of a child with a criminal record.'
"... Not necessarily." Akechi states to Tsubasa, on their father being responsible for it. "While it could be the case, there is potentially another... motivating factor."
His eyes flick sidelong towards Katsuya, he's not about to say it here. But he's thinking it... Tatsuzou Sudou, demanding another sacrifice for his son's actions.
That Tsubasa's father would thank him for them being collateral damage? Well, that's merely a convenient side effect.
He listens, his eyes distant, but with abstract sympathy as he considers Tsubasa's mother's conversation with her.
"Your mother must have felt driven into a corner... it seems she's the most likely suspect... but did he really demand she make the call?"
Or was it merely the soft pressure she felt to support her husband over their 'failure' of a child they had to write off...
Tsubasa asks to be let up, "Oh yes, my apologies." He says, before looking towards Katsuya, "Officer, if you'd be so kind? I think restraint is unnecessary given that we've ruled out Seki-san here as having any part in this arson."
He closes his eyes, "It is difficult to live one's life while... being considered a Curse upon their parents, Seki-san, but... you've done nothing wrong. Nothing that could ever deserve what you're going through now."
Rationally, those are words he's thought of for himself, time and time again. Unfortunately... they've never stuck. Cold analytical reason cannot blot out that image of coming back to see her mother hanging from an improvised noose.
And the knowledge that trying to raise him... is what drove her to it.
<Pose Tracker> Maria Sakurai has posed.
"A confession is what matters most in court. If we can present that as evidence," Katsuya explains, because as young as they are, it's possible Tsubasa might not know. Isn't that also why the Phantom Thieves thefts have worked so well in their own favor?
Be as it may, he can't actually dismiss charges and release Tsubasa out into the bright light of day. He might have authority over Akechi insofar as supervising the 'questioning' that's taking place here, but the actual decision to release them is not in his power to grant. With the appropriate leverage, and the 'game' that they're currently playing, however, there might be a chance making the case for release, but he'll have to play his own cards close to his chest until that moment comes. Katsuya may be in many respects a bit naive, but he's not stupid.
One thing he can do, however, is make sure that Tsubasa is more comfortable and, well, dressed. There might be something around here somewere they can wear, but the odds of it being in their size are about as slim as it being something they'd want to wear. "A... binder?" No, he doesn't know what it is: Tsubasa's realization is correct. "I see," he continues. He'll have to go and retrieve it for them after this; they won't have their things in here.
(He doesn't understand what it's for in the moment. Once he puts his hands on it, though, all will be come terribly clear about what it's meant to do. It will be, for Katsuya and no one else here, rather embarrassing.)
Yes. He definitely remembers that moment. Ezoe and Ichiba knew one another. And what's more, that recognition that Ezoe had... "Perhaps," Katsuya allows, not quite putting the pieces of this puzzle together the same way that Tsubasa has. "Of course, your father's company and his role within it... perhaps it's merely incidental? That is, Ezoe-san felt that treating you harshly then would be... difficult, given your father's position." He looks less than happy to say it, but it is true: money talks. Someone related to a person with that much influence in a company might look poorly upon an officer arresting their child. "However, perhaps, the situation has changed with the attack at the park. If you had been the one to do it-- it would have been too difficult for them to try to treat you lightly. There will... be pressure to close the case," he says, because he knows that one well himself. Even an officer has metrics they must meet, and unsolved cases cause the media to write about them, and make the public furious. It's a vicious cycle, one that can stall 'real justice'.
Most cases aren't so neatly solved.
They speak about their mother, the actions she'd undertaken just prior to the attack. Katsuya can't keep his expression neutral entirely: he's begun to frown, the expression undercut by the look in his eyes. To think that a parent could do such a thing to their child. To cast them aside, simply because they were 'inconvenient'. Even for well-meaning parents, Tsubasa might be a difficult child to manage, but still, that doesn't give anyone the right to--
He shakes his head. He's come to a similar conclusion as Akechi, it seems. "Can you confirm that he asked this of her, and not that she... took action on her own?"
He's met Tsubasa's father. It's a terrible thing to think, but he's a homicide detective. He's... seen things. The aftermath of things. What angry men can do, in particular.
Can they release them from their restraints, though?
"Yes, of course." Akechi wouldn't be able to, given his role here as an 'outside investigator'. Katsuya, though, as an officer here, can take responsibility. "I cannot let you leave this room, Seki-kun," he tells them, freeing them from the handcuff, "but there is no need to keep you bound like this. I will get your belongings and see what else I can find, once we are finished." At least he can try to make them more comfortable.
In silence, he looks sidelong at Akechi. That sentiment, it's said as if he knows it well himself, nearly. Akechi's own mother died when he was young, and he'd ended up in an orphanage. Those are the facts.
And it's also the fact that an orphaned child is... not easily taken in by others. In their own way, orphened children are 'cursed', just not by their parents.
Society, instead, does it for them.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Is that what that guy was anglin' for," Tsubasa says, dismally, when Katsuya explains that confessions matter the most. "Fucked up, man..."
Because, of course, they can imagine getting blamed for it all too easily.
One of these days, Tsubasa will be able to get Katsuya up to speed on gender identity disorder. It just keeps being the worst time!!
"He copped that to start with," Tsubasa says, when Akechi intimates that point about the stigma, because of course he doesn't need to finish his sentence for them to know. "But... after he got demoted for havin' such bad morals," because of course bad children are borne of bad parents, "someone musta noticed him, 'cuz he started gettin' promoted after that... 'til he was the executive vice president, man, fuck."
Tsubasa does, certainly, make a compelling sacrifice. No one would mourn their passing -- or at least, no one with the power to demand an investigation. It would be all too easy for them to just...
... disappear.
Still, Katsuya points out that it might be far more incidental than intentional, and Tsubasa exclaims: "But it's true! There's this thing, man, this whole fuckin' conspiracy with all these fuckin' dudes in power, it's --" the New World Order, they were definitely about to name the New World Order, and the one thing which saves them is how defeated they feel as they hear the words coming out of their mouth. "I mean... it's weird how they all know each other an' shit... right?"
They sure know a lot for being crazy, though.
"I--I dunno, man, I weren't there..." Tsubasa trails off, doubting themself, suddenly, as Akechi and Katsuya both ask whether Hanzou demanded it. "Maybe... he just kept gettin' pissed off 'bout me, or somethin'... I-I can imagine it goin' like that... b-but why would mom decide to handle it like that if he didn't ask her?"
Oh no, they're tearing up again. At least Katsuya uncuffs them, so they can properly fold their arms across their chest, hands tucked in and fingers grasping at their ribs. "T--thanks," they sniff, chin tucking in against their chest. "It's cool, man... I won't bolt..." ... they would, if they thought they had any chance in Hell of actually escaping, but they clearly don't.
"He didn't even want me," Tsubasa mutters, into themself. "He was always... mad he had to support some useless girl. Woulda thought he'd a took the news better, reckonin' that, but... sure didn't." Will this news give Katsuya entirely the wrong impression on what drove Tsubasa to trans their gender? Let's tune in next time to find out! "... like... thanks, man, but... it's hard to believe I ain't done nothin' to deserve it... where I'm sittin'."
Tsubasa swallows, their shoulders shaking. "L--look," they shake their head, looking up to Katsuya. "I get if I'm a suspect or whatever -- but if you guys are gonna detain me -- can you at least send me to hospital, too? Like, t-they did what they could for my burns, but I was locked in a burnin' buildin', man, an' it ain't like none of those guys were that gentle 'bout grabbin' me..."
And that, in the end, may serve as a convincing wedge for Katsuya to use while he buys some time: sending them to medical services.
... even if they're the kind of medical services where they have a guard watching them.
Luckily, Katsuya will find that his higher-ups' desire to pin things on a known arsonist is dwindling rapidly now that the SIU is involved... even if it's going to take a while to really clear their name, without some kind of miracle.
And a miracle might need to wait a few days.
(Is 'need' too strong a word...?)