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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE,
the office

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༇ THE first person Kaoru reaches out to is Kiyoshi Hattori.

"I need your help with something," he tells the boy once they're sitting in his bedroom. Ever since they bumped into each other a few years ago, they've been hanging out more and more. Usually, Nozomi comes along as well, but Kaoru decided to ask everyone for help separately.

"With what?"

"My dad's hiding something in his office. I want to know what is. Hana came back and we all had a serious talk, but I feel like something is still... strange about my father. I need you and a few others' help."

"What do I do?" Kiyoshi asks suspiciously.

"You're slim and quite sneaky. You have to go inside my dad's office for me. I don't know exactly where my dad is hiding it, but I'm certain you'll be able to find it. I'll keep watch it. The others will also help."

"And we're dead if your father catches us," Kiyoshi mumbles, hesitant.

"No. I'll keep watch and distract him. Nozomi will be going into the office with you. Hana and Kaede can keep watch outside the door. I might even tell Seika to keep watch near the front door in case he gets home."

"So you need the whole population for this." He scratches the back of his head. "I'm not sure, Kaoru. If you don't even know where your dad is hiding whatever he's hiding, would it be worth the risk?"

"Yes. I need to know and you need to help, Kiyoshi. Please. I've been thinking this through for weeks. We'll do it in the afternoon, when my dad is at work. I'll get the key to his office somehow."

"Whatever. Sure. Fine. If all the others also agree."

"Thank you." And with that, Kaoru pulls out his phone to text Hana, Kaede, and Seika. "I'm eating dinner across the street tonight, so that's when I'll ask Nozomi."

●・○・●・○・●

The same evening, after dinner at Aguni, Kuina, and Ann's house, Kaoru sits in Nozomi's room. Her walls are still covered in countless papers, from movie posters to magazine covers. Clothes are everywhere expect for the closet, and yet it's not... dirty. Kaoru likes Nozomi's room, although it's the exact opposite of his always clean space.

"I wanted to ask you something," Kaoru finally announces.

Nozomi glances up from her sketchpad. "What is it?"

"Well-" he stops.

She raises a brow. "Well?"

For a long moment, Kaoru takes her in. Her soft features, the bangs that cover her forehead, the extraordinary choice of clothes. His best friend. The person who has always been there for him, especially during the six years of Hana's absence.

"Never mind," he decides.

"No, what did you want to say?"

Kaoru waves it off. "Nothing. I wanted to ask you for a favor, but I can do it myself. Thanks anyway."

Nozomi seems dazzled for a moment before she shrugs and turns her attention back to her sketches. "Alright, if you say so."

●・○・●・○・●

That Sunday in June, the young adults are spread around the Chishiya house after planning this out for a day or two, because trying to do something behind Shuntarō Chishiya's back is truly difficult.

Kaoru, as agreed, sits on his usual spot in the grass in front of the house. Just to make this plan work, he started hanging out here a few months ago, only so his father wouldn't think of it strangely. Inside, Seika Satoshi sits at the kitchen table, pretending she's waiting for Hana, who is actually guarding the office door, while Kaede Arisu and Kiyoshi Hattori are searching for whatever Chishiya is hiding.

They're all on a phone call together; a way to easily communicate, yet also an easy way to hide the fact they're communicating.

"Let me know when you find some kind of safe, Kiyoshi and Kaede," Kaoru says into phone. "Then I'll tell you the code."

"How do you know the code but not where the safe is?" Kiyoshi wonders.

"Because I've only been in my father's office once, but I know him well enough to figure out the code."

"It better be right," Seika grumbles into the phone, clearly not super amused. Things are awkward between her and Hana, and Kaoru had trouble convincing Seika to go along with the plan.

"Even if it's not, we have time to figure it out. He has surgery until eight. Won't be back anytime soon," Kaoru explains. "Find anything yet?"

"We're looking behind these bottles of medicine now."

"Be very careful. He'll easily notice a change."

"Then why did you have to choose us? We're not as organized as you and your father," Kiyoshi mutters. "Oh-wait, I think we found something. There's a small safe hidden in the wall behind the bottles. It was covered by a poster."

"Perfect. The code is 0711."

"How do you know?" Hana wonders.

"I thought about how he operates. He always said people are unpredictable, but math never lies." Kaoru leans back on his elbows in the grass. "Seven-eleven. July eleventh. That's not a birthday. It's the average blood sugar range he always aims for with his patients. He told me about it when I was twelve. Said 70 to 110 was the range for healthy patients. He admired that number. Said it was ideal stability. It stuck with me."

There's a pause on the line.

"...I hate how that actually makes sense."

"That's not the only reason," Kaoru goes on. "'07' is the month he first stepped foot in medical school. And '11'? That's the number of hours he used to spend per day in the lab. It's the only combination of numbers that reflects who he is without ever using a date, name, or emotion. It's all data."

"Your dad scares me," Seika mutters. "And so do you."

Kaoru shrugs, even though they can't see it. And what they also can't see is his father's car appear in the driveaway.

Well, technically, Kaede and Kiyoshi could notice if they looked out the window, but they're too busy to be focused on that, and assume Kaoru, Hana, and Seika will keep watch.

Kaoru puts his microphone on mute and waves at his father, not surprised. He knew damn well his father didn't have a surgery planned tonight. "Hi."

"Hi," Chishiya greets. "Are your mother and Koko home yet?"

"No, but Hana is hanging out with Kaede and for some reason, Kiyoshi and Seika are here, too," Kaoru says casually.

As expected, Chishiya's eyes immediately flick up to the window of his office. Kaoru follows his eyes. Kiyoshi and Kaede's shadows are perfectly visible through the glass.

Chishiya stiffens. Kaoru sees it. "What?" And squints his eyes for effect. "Are that Kaede and... Kiyoshi, I think?"

He tries to keep the conversation as long as possible. It'll look like he's distracting his father and giving the others time to hide.

But Chishiya is already marching inside the house. Kaoru hurriedly follows him.

"Chishiya!" Seika exclaims loudly from the kitchen table. "How are you doing-"

Chishiya is already walking upstairs.

And Kaoru is still following him. If this part of his own, secret plan doesn't work out, he betrayed his friends for no reason.

Hana looks very alarmed, but can't stop her father from walking into his office, where Kaede and Kiyoshi are still rushing to cover up the bottles they moved.

"Shush." Kaede looks more helpless than ever. "We, eh, we were just cleaning your office up to apologize for... all dating your daughter. Kiyoshi, Seika, and I are very sorry, and about the tattoo-"

"The tattoo won't be the only thing I'll burn off you," Chishiya interrupts. "What were you trying to do with my safe?"

"We saw it as we were cleaning-" Kiyoshi tries.

"It's hidden behind a poster," Chishiya says dryly. "I believe I made it clear you shouldn't enter my office. I will be contacting your parents, and Hana," he turns to his daughter, "you were obviously keeping watch. I think it's only fair you pay me back two thirds of my money, not just one."

"I-" Hana stammers, but then she nods. "Yes, Dad."

Kaede's head is practically touching the floor due to his deep bow. "We're extremely sorry, Chishiya. We-"

"Get out of my office."

And that's when the moment Kaoru has been waiting for happens.

His dad moves forward, stepping onto a specific wooden plank in the floor that creaks just slightly. But other than that, he seems calm. "I won't be repeating myself."

Kaoru shoots all of them a fake apologetic look, as if saying 'I tried to stop him', but he did anything but that.

In order to gain something, you must lose something.

●・○・●・○・●

Chishiya and his dramatic flair obviously had to go all the way to Kaede, Seika, and Kiyoshi's house to talk to their parents, and Baya came with just to make sure Chishiya didn't pick up any lighters on the way, which leaves their three kids at home. Hana is obliged to help Sakiko with her homework for at least half an hour-a perfect opportunity for Kaoru.

He already paid someone to make copies of the office's key weeks ago. One of those copies has been taken by Chishiya after he caught Kaede and Kiyoshi in his office, but the second key remains safely in the hands of Kaoru.

He sneaks into the office, so silent that not even a bloodhound would be able to hear it. He doesn't enjoy the feeling of the wood below these extremely soft socks, but once again, to gain something, you must lose something.

Very, very carefully, he lifts the wooden plank from the floor, and soon comes to the conclusion that his plan couldn't have been better.

The safe with a four-number digit stares right up at him.

A slight grin forms on his face as he types the code in: 0711.

With a soft click, the safe opens, revealing something that Kaoru loves most.

A deck of cards.

He already assumed his dad was hiding something that had to do with the Borderlands, but confirming the theory makes him feel incredibly pleased. Carefully, as if they're made from glass, Kaoru takes the cards out of the safe, tiptoes to his room, puts them down on his desk, and grabs one of his own deck of cards. A simple, classic one, exactly the same as the Borderland cards, except Kaoru's joker card isn't black and barely holding it together.

For a moment, he wonders if he should disguise the replaced joker card the same way, but his excitement wins, and he just puts the classic deck into the safe. Closes it and makes sure everything looks the same as before, then exists the office.

Back in his room, Kaoru sits down at his desk and plays with the deck of cards. They feel old. Poor quality after all these years, as if they've survived all elements known to mankind. Kaoru moves them between his fingers, performing all the tricks he knows, and inspecting each symbol as if he hasn't seen them hundreds of times before.

A sudden uncontrollable sneeze escapes. Kaoru wipes his nose with the tissue he finds in his pocket. He even has to blow it a few times to remove the dull itch that's forming. Having a cold or an itchy nose is a nightmare for Kaoru. He hates the feeling.

Must be the dust, he thinks, but as he continues shuffling the cards, he comes to the realization that the 'dust' is attached directly onto the cards and barely comes off.

He holds it closer to his eyes, which immediately start tearing up.

He has never found more use in wanting to becoming a toxicologist until now: the cards are covered in some kind of poison.

Kaoru's hands start to shake the moment he realizes what he's holding.

His first instinct is denial: no, it can't be. But the moment he rubs his sleeve across his watering eyes, a sting bites into them like a thousand tiny knives. The stinging spreads across the side of his face. His upper lip starts to tingle. Kaoru rushes to the bathroom mirror and freezes. There's already redness flaring up beneath his nose and along his cheeks.

He should tell Hana. Or Baya. Or even his father- but the second he thinks of Chishiya's narrowed eyes and how precisely he had hidden that safe, Kaoru understands that his father knew. And obviously he hid the cards for a reason, which is why he must fix it himself.

He runs his hands under cold water for minutes, trying to flush the chemicals out. It doesn't help. The water glides off the substance like it's hydrophobic. He tries dish soap, scrubbing until his skin is raw. His nose runs nonstop. His fingers burn.

Still, he doesn't stop. After the fifth time washing, he wraps his hands in paper towels, layers gloves over them, and rushes back to his room. The cards are still on his desk, some scattered from his panic. He quickly sweeps them into a box, then he hesitates. If they're dangerous, he can't just leave them in his room.

He shoves the box into a bag and bolts down the stairs, careful not to alert anyone. Hana is still helping Sakiko, and their parents are not back yet. The front door creaks as it opens, but no one calls after him.

Outside, the air hits him like a slap. Kaoru begins to sweat almost instantly from the summer heat. It makes the gloves even more unbearable. The bag feels like it's pulsing with a heartbeat of its own. He's never hated the sound of birds so much in his life. They shouldn't be chirping while this is happening.

He finds an alleyway a few streets down from his house. He opens the bag with shaking hands, sets the box on the ground, and dumps it out, cards fluttering everywhere.

Except he didn't bring a lighter. Didn't think that far. And even if he had... something about the cards seems inflammable. They seem... resistant.

He stomps on a few. They don't tear. One even sticks to his shoe, clinging unnaturally. Panic deepens. He scoops them up again, not caring that some of the cards smear a gray paste onto the inside of the bag.

Kaoru takes a train next. He tells himself he's going to find a river side to destroy them. He'll burn them with alcohol or bleach or something chemical. But now he's in public. Now he's carrying the cards in a bag, swaying with each step, brushing strangers, bouncing against the poles.

He coughs once. The young guy sitting beside him coughs, too. He switches trains. Walks five more blocks. Crosses a footbridge.

His gloves are damp from sweat. He finds a small wooded area and opens the bag again to throw the cards into the dirt.

He has no lighter, no acid, no way to destroy the cards. In desperation, he pulls out a rock and starts hammering them, one by one. As if that will change something. He notices the wind. How it picks up. How it might be spreading the toxicity around.

He wipes his forehead with his sleeve. Then his eyes blur again. Nose itching. Throat tightening.

Utterly panicked and overwhelmed, Kaoru abandons the bag and the shattered remains of some cards and runs back into the heart of Tokyo. It's hours before he makes it home. He scrubs himself again, clothes and all. Stuffs the gloves into a trash bag. Collapses on his bed.

It's fine, he assures himself. A simple deck of cards won't spread some crazy kind of virus around Tokyo. Half of the people in the train didn't seem affected. Only a few of them coughed. They had nothing in common-

Yes they had. They were all young adults. Not little kids, but also not fully grown adults. And as Kaoru realizes that, his panic increases to the point where he almost can't breathe.

Guilt gnaws at him. He shouldn't have wanted to steal those cards. Not only did he betray his friends to get them, but he might've did something dangerous to the entire city.

Though, after all, he's fast asleep.

●・○・●・○・●

And when he wakes up, everything feels quiet.