2025-10-22: Rome Wasn't Built In A Day
- Log: Rome Wasn't Built In A Day
- Cast: Umie Akabane, Katsuya Suou
- Where: Shibuya Memorial Hospital
- OOC Date: October 22, 2025
- IC Date: July 30, 2012
- Summary: Resting in the hospital after the events of Who Holds Your Chains, Umie sends a heads-up to someone she knows she can trust: Katsuya Suou. For better or worse, he makes a visit, and while painkillers have made Umie a little less careful with her words, there's quite a bit she's still not saying, leaving Katsuya no choice but to look deeper.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
>> before you ask it was not the Old Maid again
>> someone else, oni lower face mask, suit
>> keep an eye out
That was Umie, on some painkillers or another, providing little to no context to poor Katsuya in a sudden text.
It may take even longer to get the necessary context, as Umie drifted off to sleep right after the third text.
If Katsuya doesn't want to wait until Umie wakes up, it'll thankfully be a little easier to find *some* information, as 'SUSPECTED GAS LEAK AT SHIBUYA TRIPLE 7, ONE PERSON INJURED' readily comes up in search results, should he search for the right words.
At least this time it wasn't a 'noxious trash fire'.
And even if that's as far as he gets, or if he doesn't think yet to check at all, he'll get another text later o
>> did they say anything in the news?
No, they did not, but, on the flipside, it means it should be easy for a visit to the Shibuya Memorial Hospital, should Katsuya feel able to. In fact, the nurses seem to be quite ready to show him to Umie, as if they were expecting a member of the law to show up, in fact. (Something about a gang affiliation? Or the assumption of one.)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
>> What? What happened?
Katsuya is exactly the sort of person to type formally via text.
Also, it's exactly the sort of text message that's sent in the hopes of forestalling worry only to do the exact opposite! Especially when he doesn't get a reply after the third one.
He'll find his own suggestion about what happened once the news reports come trickling in, each as uninformative about what actually happened as the last. Alas, this is often the way with breaking news!
And so it goes, until at last there's a fourth text from Umie.
>>Yes, where are you? Are you alright?
It's a train ride from Sumaru to Shibuya at that point, and he manages to arrive by the time daylight is slowly turning over into night (or in that limnal state beween late afternoon and early evening, or however it passes as such at this time of year).
Getting into her hospital room is easy, even if he's from the 'wrong' precinct. Perhaps the nurses have made their own assumptions about what happened,and he's not about to disabuse them of that sentiment, under these conditions.
"Akabane-kun?"
She is not, as it happens, 'alright'. But perhaps she's better than she could have been.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
The hospital bed is a wan, frail woman surrounded by flowers and loved ones-- wrong room.
No, it's the next room, where a frowning young blonde woman is-- oh dear, that's a nasty bruise on her face, the imprint left behind by someone's shoe. To be fair to the Ferryman, he was not aiming for her face when he was making that kick, but he *was* aiming for her ribs with that mop handle. The elbow was meant for her solar plexus, trying to end the fight quickly, but she persisted, have it hit her ribs instead. Other bruises litter her shoulders where her hospital gown isn't covering them.
Nothing life-threatening, thankfully. Just... painful. Intentionally so, as Umie shoots a glare at the nurse. "For the last time, I'm not a part of--"
The sheet cover shifts to cover her right arm, the nurse rolling her eyes in response as she's turned towards Katsuya, before giving him a well-meaning smile. "I'll leave our patient to you," she says. "She's been like this since she's woken up."
"I can still hear you," Umie grumbles, as her left finger experimentally pokes at her face.
Still, once the nurse leaves, the blonde seems to calm down. "... Sorry you felt like you needed to come here, Katsuya-san," she murmurs, letting herself fall against the pillow. "It didn't feel like something I could say over the phone. Probably isn't even safe here, but what else is new?"
She's not in good spirits, but she's not in harm's way, or in danger, at least. Can Katsuya say the same of his younger brother, or anyone else that could be currently targetted?
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"Oh-- I am very sorry!"
Cut to: Katsuya Suou extracting himself from the wrong hospital room in a hurry and making his way to the next one over. If he looks a little flustered in the moment, perhaps he can be forgiven.
"Akabane-kun, you-- ah, please excuse me," he says, tearing his gaze away from Umie and over at the nurse. "I am Sergeant Katsuya Suou, from the Konan Ward Department, Sumaru City. May I have some time alone with your patient? I need to ask her a few questions."
When comes down to it, he can lie just as easily as any other adult...
"Thank you," he tells the nurse, as she departs, closing the door.
Umie apologizes and Katsuya shakes his head. "No, it is no matter. I had to see for myself. You mentioned an 'oni-mask'? Is this another of 'their' operatives?"
Even here, he has to watch what he says.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Already, Katsuya is catching up with his delinquent little brother. Going into the wrong hospital room, and then, on top of that, he lies to a nurse in the next? When will his reign of tyranny end? Can he ever find forgiveness for his sins? No, never, Katsuya. Jailtime for Detectiveman, jailtime for a thousand yea--
The nurse seems a little flustered herself, as she notices the sharply dressed detective. "A-ah, yes, let me know if you need anything, Sergeant Suou." (Immediately after leaving, she shares a glance with a fellow nurse, mouthing, 'did you see him?' and the other nurse gives a nod of confirmation, equally enamored.)
'You mentioned an 'oni-mask'?' "Yes. Lower half of his face. Dark suit. Black tie with a white coin on it. Nice shoes. If it weren't for the mask," she says, her words slurring slightly from the painkillers, "would've not given it another thought. Nicely-dressed people come in all the time, like that, especially at night."
'You know who he is. Why aren't you just leading with that?'
'Is this another of 'their' operatives?'
Reddish brown eyes note the closed door, as if it was a sign that could seal off all information from getting out. Umie (and Katsuya) know better, but it seems to give the young woman some comfort, as her shoulders relax.
Umie gives a sharp nod, her eyes meeting Katsuya's own. "Keep an eye out. For yourself, and for Amano-san. Takkun... I figure they'll leave him alone for now."
This is likely the first mention Umie's made to indicate she knows of Amano-san, much less that she knows that this could be relevant information. "Not just this person in particular. Between this and that dark masked sniper in that Palace, hiring Strega agents, they're making moves." Joker had mentioned how strange it was for there to be hired agents, from outside, to be guarding a Palace.
"It's going to get worse from here," she murmurs, leaning forward now, the sheet shifting on her bed.
Yet, for all the information Umie seems keen on giving, like before, there's still holes she's not expanding on, or places where she's simply skipped giving context at all.
But how does someone like Katsuya pursue his own brand of 'Justice'?
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He may never live it down.
"Thank you very much," he says to the nurse, completely missing the way she eyes him in passing as she leaves, let alone the mute conversation that she has with another nurse in the hallway. Why would he pay attention to something as small as that?
He really has no idea about the looks he gets from women, sometimes.
He's produced a small notepad, jotting down a few things that she says -- in brief -- for later review. "Hmm. I see..." Someone well-dressed, but who had disguised their face. It paints a particular picture for him, one that, as he glances over at the door and then at Umie--
She confirms.
"..." He closes his notebook and tucks it away. "...I see," he says, once more. Folding his arms over his chest, he regards her steadily for several long moments. "While I appreciate the concern, Akabane-kun..."
"...the one who is currently wounded is you. Please, for your own sake, be more careful. I know that you might not have had much choice in the matter, but--"
Sniper? He blinks.
"What... sniper?"
Nobody told him!
They're certainly making moves. If Akechi is right, even the force is compromised. What's more, if Baofu is right, then...
Then, they already have an idea of the beating heart of this conspiracy.
"Perhaps so," he tells her, at length. "Yet, that does not mean we can back down now. Indeed, it makes it all the more important that we stop the killer. If the Joker Killer is doing their bidding, too..."
(He is not, really, but that's not something he can know at this point.)
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'While I appreciate the concern, Akabane-kun...'
Being reminded of her own current situation draws Umie's lips into a straight line, as if being reminded of a failure that she, somehow, had managed to hide.
... Like anyone would miss the blotch on her face. And more than that, anger and paranoia cloud her expression, but like a bird flashing its feathers to lure a predator away from the nest, fear and anxiety lie nestled further in.
"... I couldn't," she says testily, her eyes looking away. As if it excused every tactic she *did* use, when there may have been many, many more that would have worked. In the end, still, she chose to assauge her pride. "Both exits were blocked by coffins." The sentence would make no sense without the context they thankfully both have. "I would've gotten away otherwise."
Or would she? Leave people alone with a man who could have easily went after others? If she hadn't resisted so much, maybe--
'What sniper?'
The question breaks Umie out of her mood, somehow, as she gives Katsuya two oblivious blinks. ".... Oh, right," she says, rubbing her head with her left hand. "With... that palace. When things were... concluding, someone tried to snipe... a person of interest." She tries to pick her words carefully, while beating away the tired urge to simply reveal all. "None of us realized the person was there until they acted. Had a weird... 'aura' to them. No one had any clue who it was." Umie herself was unfamiliar with the 'Black Mask' other shadows would talk about. "I wasn't clear."
"You think Old Maid's doing their bidding?" Umie frowns. "... After everything his dad--"
She quiets, her left hand going to her face. The right shifts, as if that was her first choice, but it lies by her side.
No, Katsuya's right. If the NWO hired Strega, and the Old Maid was there, then technically... he was doing the NWO's bidding.
"... Like he doesn't even care..."
She's quiet for a moment. "I don't want you to back down, Katsuya-san," she says softly, after she takes a moment to compose herself. "But I do want to help you fight."
Which would sound like a great line, if she wasn't in a hospital bed. "You *know* I can do better than this," she hisses.
(Yeah, she accidentally touched her own bruise.)
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Katsuya...
...sighs. "I had thought something like that would be the case. Even in some of our worst encounters so far, you have not been hurt as badly as this," he says, shaking his head. "Still, please. Do be careful."
She tells him about the sniper, then. Katsuya goes fairly ashen. "He... what? But that could have been targetted at anyone! A weapon of that calibur, the hands of an unknown assailant... what a flagrant violation of the Firearm and Sword Possession Act..." he mutters to himself, fixating on that point of all things.
But then Umie says something strange.
"His... father, Akabane-kun?" He's got eyes on her now, looking at as if she's grown another head. "Where did you hear anything about his 'father'?"
Katsuya Suou is still a police detective, and he's just discovered a turn of phrase that suggests one of two things to him, and he's keen to work out which it is.
She doesn't want him to back down, though.
Which is good, because he's got the scent and even if it takes him another year to solve this, or more, he's keen to do just that.
But she also wants to help them -- him -- in their fight.
"That, I do, but..."
But he has his misgivings over someone who he still parses as a high school student, even if that hasn't been true for over two years.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"It's fine," Umie says, waving her left hand. The red nails are chipped, unfortunately, which Umie immediately recognizes, much to her chagrin, as she turns that hand over to examine them with a frown.
"It would have gone smoother if I hadn't fought back," she admits, softly, as she lets the hand drop. She remembers the note of regret in Hiroto's voice, as he revealed his task.
To let any note of sympathy enter her decisions, at that point, would have been deadly.
"You noticed the same thing I did," Umie says, in regards to the sniper. "Anyone of us could have been--" 'What a flagrant violation of the Firearm and Sword Possession Act...'
At that moment, there's a sudden impulse for Umie to reach over and mess with Katsuya's face. How can this man exist? How can such a serious, serious man do and say such serious things with a serious tone, and say serious things like that? Did she explain it clearly enough? DId he understand? It's such a small thing, and yet, he says it with such beautiful conviction (well, it was muttered, anyway, but still!!).
Is this it...? The legendary gap moe...
"... We don't know," Umie says, as she clears her throat, "if the weapon was... real or not. Since they were far away, and with the way cognition works in those spaces, and all. I can, uh, give you a demonstration, sometime, with a weapon an acquaintance gave me. It may come in very useful."
Does the law cover cognitive weaponry?
A better question, however, may be 'what does Umie know'.
"...." Umie is quiet, her head bowed, as she makes a critical study of Katsuya's face. "The man tried to kill me. I want to know every bit of information on the bastard as I can get."
It doesn't answer his question, but the hardened gleam of her eyes, as well as how she refuses to give one, may be one in itself.
He's hesitating.
It doesn't help that Umie has always been on the short, thin side, and that was how Katsuya first met her: someone who was nice, quiet, nondescript as possible, in some ways, to a fault, at least in Umie's own view. That same person is here, despite the blonde hair and nails.
"I'll be going whether or not you give permission; especially if I get wind that Takkun is making any moves." He may not tell her.
"I have a stake in this too."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"If you hadn't fought back..." Katsuya muses. He frowns, thinking the matter over. "It is said that it can be better not to fight back against an assailant but, it can depend on the situation," he says, fidgeting with his sunglasses. What would have happened if she hadn't fought back?
And what of the circumstances around the sniper in the Palace?
Umie is quick to correct his mistake, at least.
"Was it cognitive weaponry...?" Katsuya wonders, as if it hadn't occured to him before. Well, unfortuantely, that changes everything. "If that's the case..." He trails off, then shakes his head. "It's still in violation of the law, but there isn't anything I can do about it. Anymore than I can do about anyone else using a cognitive weapon..." If you can't produce the weapon as evidence, then as far as the law is concerned, it doesn't exist. And it isn't as if the court could enter a cognitive realm to see for themselves.
He's forced to let it slide because there's nothing he can do about it, and also because he's not unaware of the stakes. It's better for someone to break the law to survive in circumstances like this.
...Even if he'd really rather not dwell on that fact too much, either.
Besides, is he really the one who should be talking after the role he's played with the Parabellum rumor? And he is letting Maya keep those very cute and very illegal pink handguns that the Joker Killer gave her. Unlike cognitive weaponry, those are quite real.
But speaking of that man--
He had tried to kill Umie, too. He'd tried to kill Katsuya, and Ulala, and Ayame, and very especially, Maya. There have been others since then. Tsubasa. The 'Death Boss' of Kasugayama. Not all of them have survived. He'd seen that video.
And whether or not he gives her permission, Umie is still going to do it.
"I see..." Katsuya says, just barely readjusting his sunglasses. "So no matter what I say, you..." He sighs, and shakes his head. "You're put me in a difficult situation, Akabane-kun. If you are as determined as that, then, I suppose I cannot stop you." Briefly he closes his eyes, as if to think on and then come to his decision. "...Very well. Then, at least, let us be allies. I think that we will need all the help we can get in this effort."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie wonders, just how much to reveal. For all she knows, it was all a lie. And even if it wasn't... did it change things? The bandages, the money, and the note speak a story of someone who is reluctant, but it didn't slow him down any, at all. "... He was there to punish me, I think. Not kill me. He stated that the coffins would be safe." She sighs. "I don't think," she says, carefully, "he necessarily liked what he was doing."
Who holds the chains to someone like Tatsuya Suou, or Umie Akabane? What about the person who ran that circus, in Sumaru City? The Old Maid
On the topic of whether or not the masked sniper's gun was cognitive, Umie is honest, shrugging her shoulders (and wincing for a moment as one shoulder disagreed with the action). "I don't know. Even if got a closer look, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference."
"It's still useful for you to know how it works," she then adds. "Knowledge is how we survive, Katsuya-san."
She's quiet, her gaze on Katsuya as his hand touches his sunglasses.
'You've put me in a difficult situation, Akabane-kun.'
The smile that appears on Umie's lips, like a mirage, carries a sort of mischievous tilt, even if her eyes still betray that hard glint.
And she waits.
Let us be allies.
"... As if I was ever anything else, Katsuya-san," Umie murmurs. "You'll need a shadow at your back. Whether I'm there, or with your brother, we'll end this." Her left hand goes to tuck a bang behind an ear.
Her mouth wants to say something more, but something sits at the back of her throat. A terrible thought, an idea of something that passed through her lips before.
... No. It's a delusion, and nothing more.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
He shakes his head as Umie explains that she doesn't think he wanted to do all that to her. That he hadn't been there to kill her, just hurt her. "Assault is still a crime," Katsuya says, folding his arms over his chest. "Even if someone is being given the order, that doesn't excuse it." Even if he didn't like it, he thinks to himself.
What is the difference, though, between what that man has done, and what he, as an officer and arm of the law and state, may be tasked to do?
It's something he has not yet considered, not yet. Not in depth. It may only be when the day arrives that he will see it plainly.
Here and now, though, there is still trouble enough for him. "I see. I have some knowledge of firearms, but I cannot be sure I would know it, either." If it's not a kind of weapon used by criminals in Japan, the odds are slim: he isn't knowledgeable about some sorts of guns because he's some sort of 'gun fanatic' like a certain bartender, after all! It's simply useful to be aware of what is currently in circulation and use.
You know, speaking about knowledge being how they survive.
"Well... of course," is what he says to Umie there. The more they know about, the more they are prepared to manage. That goes for their enemies be then mundane, supernatural, or some combination of the two factors.
And by the same token, alliances are also how they survive. People can't live alone: one person can't do everything. It's a lesson that Tatsuya hasn't yet seemed to learn.
"A shadow, is it..." he remarks, on that turn of phrase. That smile on her face is certainly impish, as if she were imagining herself as some ghost or spirit or-- ninja, like she had watched too many cartoons.
Then again, what is it that he's imagining himself as, in the end?
Katsuya nods. "So long as we resolve this, and bring peace back to this city," he says to her, watching her now. "...But now, I think, you must rest. There is a saying that 'Rome was not built in a day'. If I could finish this today, I would, but... first, we must take care to not overtax ourselves. This isn't over just yet."