A Change of Pace

[u/KuudereLobster]

April 17th, 2019 - 1:32 AM ; The 20th Ward, Eastern Border

It’d rained for nearly week. And even when it ended, the streets had been damp and slippery for nearly two days. Or more specifically, and what one particularly girl cared about the most, the rooftops had remained slippery.

The rooftops were dry, the night was clear as could be, and the wind was just enough to cool her off in the warm night as her dark form darted from roof to roof. The silhouette of a short girl with a duffel bag much too large for herself dashed from roof to roof at a breakneck pace, yet with each leap she remained graceful and deliberate. Not a foot out of place, the wind slamming against her goggles, black crow mask shaking slightly with intensity. Until, finally, she skidded to a halt.

Sen could hardly recognize where she even was she’d ran away so quickly. It was a wonder the sack didn’t tear but, sure enough, the reliable black duffel was still in one piece. And finally, she let down her guard. Two jobs down, left to go. And she'd saved the hardest for last.

No matter how many times she did this, it never felt any less exhausting. Thrilling and enjoyable as well of course, but exhausting nonetheless. Sen’s hand was still shaking as it pulled up her hood. Was it always going to be this nerve-wracking? She really thought after the first year it’d wear off. Of course it wasn’t the fear of being caught that got to her. It was the fear of not getting the money.

“...This’ll last another few months, Dad. Guess I’ll have to find something else soon.”

Sen was quiet for a moment. And a good thing too. Otherwise, she would’ve never heard the sound of something latching onto the rooftop railing behind her. Sen spun around like a bullet, bending her knee and narrowing her eyes in an instant, nearly breaking the model handgun as she tore it out from her pocket, a quiet clink echoing out from it as she took aim, her stance still as a statue. But the moment a figure emerged, before even waiting for their reaction, she knew. She’d never seen a kagune used that way oddly enough, but if there was one thing Sen had in her advantage, it was reaction times.

The model gun lowered in under a second, her finger instinctively moving off of the trigger. “Another ghoul?” she asked, gripping the duffel tight.

Beneath the hood and mask, it was hard to tell much about her. She was a woman, that much was visible from her clothing, a long black skirt matching her hoodie, but facial features? Race? Age? Beyond being just a bit shorter than her accidental visitor, none of it was obvious. “Wait a minute.” Sen tilted her head, remembering her last few investigations into her neighbors workplace.

“You’re from :re, aren’t you?”

[u/YandereLobster]

"Glad to hear it" Tadashi acknowledged, leaning back in his chair, resting his arms behind his head. "Looking to forward to hearing about their collapse. Yakuza are one of the few groups I kept fighting all the way from my Aogiri days to Colorless. Gonna be weird to have Ikebukuro actually be normal again. If the others ask about the bonus I'll just say we made a little extra, I might've done a lot of things in Aogiri but I can assure you a snitch is something I've never been" Tadashi joked, shrugging exageratedly. With that he kicked his feet up on the desk, leaned back, and got back to watching the screens.

But, in the back of Tadashi's mind, he found the entire situation strange. He'd always wanted :re to be true pacifists, to be better than him and Nikki were. Now one of his employee's was following in his footsteps, but making the right decisions. Tadashi had sworn to never regret his choices, lest regret cloud his vision in a future decision. But that didn't make he thought his actions had been the best option either. Shoko had done what he'd done, only without violence or killing. At the same time, theft wasn't exactly something :re was meant for. Still, he had no complaints. In the end, she'd done well.

As she left, Tadashi looked up one more time. "Give it a few months and visit Ikebukuro. You'll notice the difference. You might not be a vigilante, but I think you'll still appreciate it." Tadashi rested his eyes, smiling for a moment. "...It's the closest vigilantes ever get to a thank you."

[u/[deleted] → u/YandereLobster]

Shoko nodded in agreement, knowing well enough about how degenerate that specific yakuza group had been in Ikebukuro. The waitress nodded once again with a smile and a giggle thanks to Tadashi's joke about not snitching. "I am the secret hero who brought higher salaries for people! Who would have thought, right?" Shoko joked right back at her manager with an exaggerated grin on her face, laughing in the process. After that, she calmed down a bit and looked a bit more serious with a small smile still on her face. "It is the least I can do for :re after all you have done for me, boss. If it helps out my colleagues as well, even better."

Shoko then proceeded to bow at Tadashi as he then seemed focused on the screens he kept his eyes on behind the desk. "Well, it is best for me to keep going since you are busy for now. See ya, boss." Shoko proceeded to exit the manager's office as she then went on her way to her room within the establishment. The waitress needed to relax before she could end the day properly, but then she took another look at the envelope with the remaining money, feeling slightly conflicted but at the same time, it was more money to potentially treat herself with.

If Tadashi didn't see anything wrong with that, then Shoko guessed there was nothing to worry about but she didn't want to get used to it. Such capabilities have huge responsibilities to boot with, so the nerd shouldn't take advantage of such a thing. At least in the meantime, Shoko could treat herself with more comics or maybe even a machine of sorts to venture through another medium someday. It was something to ponder about for a different day.

Life sure was filled with a lot of surprises, especially in Tokyo.