WPaRG: Good Neighbours

by chelonianmobile, MultiFanGirlWickedPony

Summary:

Some scenes showing who lives with or near whom.

Chapter 1

“Do you wanna cook?”

“No.”

“… Me neither.”

The Ji brothers were currently collapsed on the futon of their new apartment. It had been a long day; an eleven hour flight from Seoul to Los Angeles, plus an additional two hours to get to their new place. A few suitcases, moving boxes, and cheap furniture to unpack and arrange. Both men were tired, sweaty, and most importantly right now, starving as a result.

“Do you wanna grab something?” Ma-gang asked.

“I don’t wanna move.”

“Neither do I. So…?”

Ma-choe pulled out his phone. “Fuck it. I’m going to get a pizza.” He started to dial.

“Why pizza?”

“Because I don’t want to get a shittier version of what we could get back in Seoul. ‘Sides, when in Rome, right?”

The doorbell rang right at that moment, causing both men to groan.

“Gang? You get it.”

“Why me?!”

“You have both your legs and I barely have the energy to make a phone call.”

Gang sighed, standing. “Fine. Fine.” He walked over, opening the door to reveal… a white guy with a stupidly wide grin and a bottle of red wine.

“I’m Hansel! Want to see a magic trick?”

“Shut the door,” Choe called out.

Too late, he was already pushing his way inside.

“Do you need help unpacking? This place came with furniture, right? No offense, but-”

“What are you doing here?”

“Welcoming you to the building! It’s my turn.” He paused. “It’s… always my turn. I live alone because my sister hates me.”

“Good for you,” Choe muttered.

“Um, Mister… Hansel, is it? That’s very nice of you, but we’re both really tired. We traveled here from Seoul and-”

“Sowl? Where’s that?”

Gang looked him square in the eyes. “South Korea. So we’ve had a very long day and-”

“Oh, South Korea? Never been. Always wanted to! So what brings you all the way to the States?”

“None of your business,” Choe grumbled from the couch.

“Keep your secrets then, that’s alright too!” Hansel sat down next to him. “I brought booze!”

“Oh, uh, thanks, but-”

“I can’t drink.”

“Liquor allergy, eh? That’s what killed my grandma.”

“Uh, no. And it’s none of your business why I can’t drink.” Choe scooted away. “Listen, this has been fun, but we-”

“Well, if you can’t drink, then perhaps I could interest you in a few of my specialty products.” He pulled out a crystal.

Both brothers audibly groaned. “We are definitely not interested in that,” Choe said firmly. “You can keep that white person… thing away from us.”

“This isn’t a white person thing-”

“Yes it is,” the brothers said in unison.

“Hmph. Well, if you change your mind…”

“Not going to happen.”

Hansel looked at Gang and tilted his head in Choe’s direction. “I get the feeling your brother doesn’t like me.”

“Did the crystal tell you that?”

“Maybe! You wanna buy one and-”

“Sir, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but… please get out.”

“Should I leave the wine?”

“No.”

“Alright, alright,” Hansel said with a shrug. “I’ll be back tomorrow!”

“Please-”

“With a fruit basket!”

~

The weird white man was not back the next day. Though, to be fair, they spent the better part of that day completely unconscious and dead to the world. They didn’t encounter any neighbors until the day after, later in the evening. The knock on the door was a lot gentler, the man on the other side… a lot bigger. He had a woman with him.

“You’re new to the building, aren’t you? My children mentioned that you’d moved in.”

“Um, yes?”

The man stuck out his hand. “My name is Theo Antonin. This is my wife, Cleo Emerens. We live right across the hall.”

“Sorry we weren’t here to help you move in. My husband and I both work at the library, and it gets busy on weekends, I’m afraid.”

“That’s really fine, don’t worry about it.”

“I heard Mr. Beck paid you a visit.”

“Mr. Beck?”

“Hansel Beck. He lives in his own little world.” Cleo shook her head, smiling slightly. “We think he’s lonely.”

“That’s a word for it.”

“Are you up for visitors right now? We just thought we’d drop by and… maybe give you some pointers on how the building is run.”

“Uh, sure.” Gang gestured to the table and chairs. “Sit, please. Sorry about the mess.”

“We have two kids. We’ve seen worse.”

“How old are they?”

“Lionel is four and Leona is one.”

“… You really have seen worse.” The couple laughed at that. “Hang on, let me get my brother-”

“No need.” Choe shut his book loudly enough to be heard from his bedroom. “I heard the whole thing.” He entered the room. They didn’t immediately focus on the leg - always a good sign. “I’m Ji Ma-choe. My brother is Ji Ma-gang.”

“Pleasure to meet you both.”

Hands were shaken, and all four sat around the table. Theo started the conversation. “One thing I feel you really ought to be warned about: your upstairs neighbors are the Chatons. They’re married - two men, but that's not a problem. What is a problem is that they're… loud. Unfortunately one of them is the son of the landlady so they aren’t really going anywhere. I’d recommend investing in some earplugs. Or noise canceling headphones.”

“How bad is it?”

“Bad. They’re always fighting. And when they’re not fighting they’re… Well.” Cleo rolled her eyes.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that! But I don’t want to hear it. And imagine explaining it to the kids…”

Gang blushed. “Y-yeah. No kidding.”

“The landlady has a room on the ground floor. With her daughter, and her daughter’s boyfriend. They have a son around Lionel’s age.”

“Casper.”

“Casper. He’s… a little wound.”

Theo groaned. “Tell me about it. Then you’ve got Eliot Shagg and Ace Yu on the second floor. They’re artists, I think.”

“They’re… fine. But they are brothers - half, hence the different names, but brothers.” She nods to the two of them. “I’m sure I don’t have to tell you this, but… Well, brothers fight. They aren’t nearly as bad as the Chatons, but…”

“They get loud too.”

“They’re not…”

“Uh, no. Not like that, but… And you’ve already met Mr. Beck.”

“Oh boy.”

“He’s a bit much, but he means well. The thing is, he has a lot of… company. And they’re not always quiet.”

“It’s not as bad as the Chatons.”

“No! Absolutely not, but they’re still… loud, at times. He lives down the hall. You might hear something.”

“Great…” Choe muttered.

“… I… do have to ask,” Cleo said, leaning in. “Are you two… seeing anyone?”

“Oh! No, not like that,” Gang said, shaking his head. “That’s not why we moved here.”

She sagged in relief. “Oh, thank goodness.”

“Not that we want you to be single, not unless you want to be, it’s just… We have two children,” Theo said in an apologetic tone. “And enough to explain already. It’s nice to not have to worry about that for once.”

“Understandable,” Choe said, waving it away. “Yeah, don’t worry. I don’t think anything like that is in the foreseeable future.”

“That’s good. That’s good.” Cleo bit the inside of her cheek. “Um, one other thing. There are… quite a number of young women in this building. If you meet one, and she says she lives alone… Don’t go to her unit. She’ll happily come to yours.”

“Er, are you implying-”

“Look, rent’s cheap for a reason. I don’t ask. They don’t bother anyone. They’re all adults. And it’s another one of the ground floor apartments, so-”

“I think there’s one man too, actually. Dark hair. Has a sister who looks just like him. Whatever their arrangement is with the landlady, well, that’s their own affair.”

“Yeah, don’t think we’ll need to worry about that one,” Gang said.

Choe scoffed. “Why’d we rent this place again?”

“Because it’s the cheapest unit in the cheapest building and you said we ought to save our money for the restaurant?”

“Oh yeah.”

Chapter 2

Ace was completely passed out.

This wasn’t unheard of. Back in their childhood any long car ride usually involved Ace falling asleep leaning against the car window, drooling slightly. Painkillers probably didn’t help in that regard. The only problem was that Ace wasn’t a little kid, and Eliot wasn’t Mom, and they lived on the second floor of a really crappy apartment building.

He started by prodding his shoulder. “Ace?” No response. No anything. Not even when he shook a little harder. Eliot sighed. “Here we go, I guess.”

He pulled up in front of the building, as close as he could get without parking on the sidewalk. Then he walked around to the passenger-side door. Ace was heavy. Really, really heavy. And Eliot was a pansy. But Ace was his brother. And right now he fucking needs you. So he gritted his teeth and lifted him, draping him over his back.

“Gah!” He straightened his brother the best he could. “Sheesh, I don’t know if that’s fat or muscle, but you could probably stand to lose a few pounds.”

Ace still wasn’t responding. Wasn’t even standing, not really.

Eliot sighed. “If you wake up for any this, I don’t want to hear a word…” He shifted his brother slightly, until he was carrying him bridal style. “Seriously, Ace. If you wake up, not. A. Word.” Still nothing. He sighed, heading to the elevator. Praying to God no one saw the two of them right now.

The doors opened. Slowly (like everything else in this building).

“Sweet fuck, he killed him!”

Great, just great.

“… Hello, Bruno.”

“Shagg! What the fuck do you think yer doin’, huh? Killin’ Mr. Hart like that! Now we’re never gonna find out what happens to Bugsy! They’ll cancel the show.”

“He’s not dead, Bruno. He’s asleep.”

“Ha! A likely stor-”

Ace let out a rather loud snore.

“… Alright, I guess he is asleep. Why not wake him up? He’s not Chow. He can walk on his own two legs.”

“The man’s name is Choe, and I’m fairly certain he’d prefer you called him Mr. Ji.”

“Doesn’t answer the question.”

“He’s not feeling well.”

“But-”

The doors opened. Second floor. Good.

“Mr. Shagg?!”

Kitty Chaton and Siegel Them. What even was tonight. Why him? “Ms. Chaton. Mr. Them.”

“Do I need to call the cops?”

“He’s not dead,” Bruno told them in a “helpful” tone. “Just drunk.”

“He’s not drunk! Bruno, I never said he was drunk! He’s just… sick.”

“I thought he was Chinese.”

“Bugsy’s drunk,” Kitty grumbled.

“He’s not exactly Chinese…”

“You said he was.”

“No, I… did I say that?”

They all nodded.

“Fuck me, I shouldn’t have-”

“Who are we fucking?” Mr. Ji - Ma-gang Ji - asked. “Holy-”

“He’s not dead,” they said in unison.

“Oh, I knew that. My brother took him to the hospital. I just didn’t realize he was in such bad shape.”

“Hospital?”

All eyes turned to Eliot.

“… Look, it’s really not my place to say. I just need to get back to the apartment. Ace needs to rest.”

“I’ll help,” Kitty said.

“You really don’t-”

“Please, like I haven’t hauled around my share a’ guys. An’ they were fuckin’ wasted.” She thrust Siegel at Bruno. “You been fuckin’ my ma, right? You can take him to her.”

“Y-yes, Miss Kitty.”

She shrugged off her stole and turned to Eliot. "You get his shoulders, I’ll take his legs.”

“Um, thank you?”

“Thank me when we get there.”

Ace continued to be out like a light, looking somewhat like a hammock as the two of them carried him down the hall.

“So who fucked him?”

Eliot nearly dropped Ace onto the dingy hall carpet. “W-wha-”

“You know who my ma is. I’ve seen my fair share of this.” She shifted her hold and shrugged. “I’m not dumb. An’ I’m not gonna say anything, but I know, okay? S’ one of those things you pick up, I guess.”

“… This isn’t any of-”

“Nunna my business, yeah, yeah… Still, though. We’re friends. Kinda.”

“Not really. You work together. Your boyfriend-”

“Bugsy’s a weirdo.” She shrugged again. “Let him know he can call me if he ever wants to talk.”

“I… I will, I guess. Thank-”

“Don’t mention it,” she said, casually popping the lock on his door.

“How did you-”

“Acrylics. They’re good for a lotta things.”

… Note to self, ask Mrs. Chaton if I can change the locks.

They set Ace down on the couch, and Kitty threw the duvet over him. Eliot went to go fetch a pillow.

“You gonna be okay?”

Eliot nodded as he came back, tucking the pillow under Ace’s head. Ace then proceeded to wrap his arms around it like a stuffed animal. “I’ve got it from here.”

“Let me know if there’s anythin’ I can do.”

“How about you don’t ask us to babysit for a month and we’ll call it even?”

“Can do.” She smirked. “I’ll ask Sévère instead.”

Chapter 3

“Sorry, I think this might be the wrong apartment.”

August Mint blinked at the people in his doorway. It was late. Only Mr. Licorice had ever come this late… and Mr. Licorice wasn’t allowed to be his friend anymore. But this lady looked nice. And the men behind her weren’t that scary.

He smiled. “Hi! I’m August!”

“Um… nice to meet you. Sorry, did we wake you up?”

He nodded. “That’s okay though.”

“Still, I’m very sorry. I meant to go to my sons’ apartment.”

August tilted his head. “You’re a mom?”

“Yes. My boys are grown. Maybe you know them? Their names are Eliot-”

“Ohhhhh! You’re Mr. Eliot’s mom!” He pointed to the door across the hall. “It’s that house.”

“Thank you so much.”

~

Annie Shagg had spent… longer than she’d care to admit combing the building, looking for her boys. And it was only taking longer. It didn’t help that Scott was here. With “Sam” (his chosen American name).

It also didn’t help that the apartment residents she ran into were all… less than helpful. There was the one who took one look at her and shut the door, the one who had only said “Wrong floor”… That nice-if-strange man had been the only one decent enough to point her in the right direction.

She knocked at the door. Knocked again. Louder. Shuffling. Then it swung open. There was one of her sons, in rumpled clothes. He must have fallen asleep at his desk.

“Mom! Y-you’re here! Dad! … Mr. Yugur.”

“Where’s my kid?”

Eliot stepped aside. “On the couch. He-”

Sam pushed past him, having eyes only for his son. As he usually did. Some things never changed. “Munnokhoi?”

Ace looked up. “Aav?”

“I’m here.” He sat beside him, squeezing his hand. “I’m here.”

“How’d you get here so fast? S’ only been a few days… normally takes longer than that to-”

“This was an emergency,” Annie said, sitting down on the other side of him.

“I thought you were sick.”

“Not that sick.” She smiled thinly. “I promise I’m not contagious.”

Ace nodded like he was agreeing to something and pulled the blanket up. “You got Aav from the airport?”

“Of course. We can do a few things without biting each other’s heads off,” Scott said.

“O-oh… Uh, hey, Mr. Shagg.”

“Hey, Ace. How are you feeling?”

Sam shot Scott a glare. “My boy was assaulted. How do you think?”

“Aav-”

Sam looked him over. “Is everything alright with your body? The doctors healed you up enough?”

“Aav, I’m fine.”

Sam raised an eyebrow.

“Physically.”

He patted Ace’s shoulder. “I’ll make it better.”

“Mm.”

“I will. I brought all your things from home!” He held up the bag. “Anklebones, chess, Nohai-” He lifted up a small, felted dog.

“Aav! P-put that thing away! You’re embarrassing me!”

“It’s just us, honey.” Annie walked over to her son’s other side. “It’s okay. There’s no need to be embarrassed.”

“Mom…”

“We’re here for you.” She squeezed his other hand. “I promise.”

“S’ decent market around your city somewhere, yeah?” Sam asked. “Your brother ‘ll show me where tomorrow.”

“What?! Why am I-”

“You know the city. ‘ll make hotpot.”

“Aav, I don’t like-”

“Shush. It’s good for you.”

“I… don’t think we have-”

“I will buy.”

“… There’s no getting out of this. Is there?”

“No.”

“Does anyone like hotpot-”

“Ace, I’ve seen you eat-”

“Shut up, Eliot.”

“I like-”

“Shut up, Eliot.”

His father pushed Ace’s hair back. “Don’t worry. ‘ll not make it for your brother. Only you. You’re too skinny.”

“I beg to differ.”

Sam shot Eliot a glare.

“In my defense, you didn’t have to carry him up here.”

“And who’s fault was that, huh?”

Annie winced. “Sam - Fürchtegott, please. Let’s not get into this now. That’s not what Ace needs.”

“No. What he needs is to eat something.” He poked at his son’s ribs. “When was the last time you ate?”

“I had dinner-”

“What did you have? This California food, s’ not filling you up enough. You need real food, kid.”

“Dad! Seriously-”

“Is this his fault?” He scowled at Eliot. “Have you been telling him to diet?”

“What? No! I couldn’t tell Ace what to eat if I tried.”

“To be fair, you don’t look like you’ve been eating enough yourself,” Scott said, poking his own son’s ribs.

“Dad, please,” Eliot groaned.

“What? I’m not allowed to worry about you?”

“I’m a grown man.”

“You’re only twenty-four.”

“Dad-”

“You know, they say your brain doesn’t fully develop until you’re twenty-five at least-”

“Daaad-”

“Don’t talk back to your father, Eliot-”

“Shut up, Ace!”

“You don’t tell your brother to shut up! Not after what you did,” Sam said.

“Aav, please, it wasn’t his fault-”

“Still didn’t come when you called. You had to ask for boss, yeah?”

Neither Eliot nor Ace were looking at each other.

“… It’s complicated,” both of them said at once.

“Tell me.”

“I… We… we had a fight about the show.”

“What about?”

“Ace… didn’t like the way it was going with his character. He wanted, um… This actually sounds really bad now that I’m saying it.”

“I thought Ace Hart oughta be Asian too, y’know? I mean, half-Asian. S’ kinda obvious with me already so…”

“What’s the problem?”

“I… I… didn’t want to alienate our viewers. A-and that’s the sort of thing that- Look, I was wrong. I know that now.”

As if the looks his entire family was giving him wasn’t confirmation.

“Honey…”

“I know. I know. It was wrong of me. I…” He looked at Ace. “… I don’t know what I was thinking. We’ll… we’ll be adding some stuff next season.”

“We kinda got into a fistfight over it,” Ace said. “An’ I got arrested.”

“Not your brother?”

“Aav, he’s- No. Just me. You know that.”

“That s’ not what I-”

“Anyway, so… yeah.”

“I knew this was your fault,” Sam muttered.

“Mr. Yugur-”

“Why was it just him, hm? Why not you? Do you know why?” Sam looked pointedly at Eliot’s bare hands.

“… That… I’m sorry-”

“And now your brother is hurt. He was hurt. You didn’t come. It was your fault and you didn’t come.”

“Aav-”

“Quiet, Muunokhoi. You should… rest.” He nodded to the hall. “Go to your room.”

“What?”

“Go to bed. The couch s’ no place for sleeping.”

“Aav.”

“Bed. Now.”

“… Yes, Aav,” Ace muttered, going down to his room. Under ordinary circumstances, it might have been funny.

Ordinary circumstances didn’t see Sam staring at Eliot with what could only be described as a barely-contained fury.

“This,” he said. “This s’ all your fault.”

Chapter 4

There were better ways of meeting a stranger than having him walk into you. Literally, Junichi stumbled, trying to regain his footing, as the other person fell into a wall. “Sorry,” he said. “Miss… Sir… uh, you. You know I’m still getting used to this thing.” He held up his cane sheepishly, and held out a hand.

“Uh, who are you?”

The hand was lowered. “Uh… Junichi? I live here now. Who are you?”

“Gretel!” The stranger was… laughing? “Why didn’t you tell me you had a new boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend?! What the hell are you… oh.” Beck’s voice. “Watanabe, I take it you’ve met my brother.”

“Watanabe? You’re not on a first name basis and he’s already moving in with y-”

“Cool it. He’s my CI.”

Hansel whistled. “You’re putting up with a CI? Never thought I’d see the day.” A pause, as he presumably looked Junichi over. “You don’t look like much of a criminal. No offense.”

How the hell would you know? “None taken, I think.” Junichi pointed his head in the direction he thought Gretel had spoken from. “You didn’t tell me you had a little brother.”

“Actually-”

“An older brother!” There’s a rush of air and whooshing sound and… Did he just… bow? Is this because I’m Japanese or…? “Hansel Wilhelm Beck, at your service. Well… not really, but you know what I mean.”

Beck sighed. “He’s a stage magician.”

“And an entrepreneur!”

Junichi frowned. “Sorry, English is my second language, what’s an on-trip-a-newer?” Just saying it felt wrong to him.

“It means I have my own business!” Hansel was quick to say it. Perhaps too quick. “I sell magic items.”

“Like those magic wands?”

“Crystals.”

… He’s one of those people. Abort. Abort!

“It’s all in good fun,” Hansel said. “I know it’s not real, obviously, but it pays the bills. And you won’t tell anyone, right? Wink. Wink.”

Junichi waited for Beck to say something. She did not.

Well. This was going to be… an experience.

~

He was warned, the next time his supervisor’s brother came for a visit. About the brother, anyway. Nobody said anything about the dog.

Junichi had been sitting on the couch, practising reading Braille, when he heard the barking. It was enough to make him jump off his seat and back into a corner of the room, arms against the wall. Hansel couldn’t help but look at the CI oddly. “Are you okay?”

“You have a dog?!”

“… Are you scared of Gingersnap?”

“Keep that thing the fuck away from me!”

Hansel looked down at his puppy. His corgi puppy. “Um… what? He weighs like-”

Junichi was standing on a chair now, looking around wildly, ready to fend off the ferocious ball of sausage. “I told you to keep it away!”

“What the hell are you two… oh.”

Beck to the rescue. Junichi whimpered. “H-help…”

“Hansel, can you put him in the bathroom or something?”

“Uh…”

“Please? I can explain later, it’s just… Watanabe doesn’t like dogs.”

“Not even corgis?” Hansel looked over. Junichi had relaxed slightly upon hearing the word “corgi”, but not by much. “What, was it a bad experience?”

“Something like that. Please, just put him away.”

“Alright, but I’ll warn you right now, I’m still housetraining him.”

Junichi waited until he heard footsteps, and the sound of a door, then turned on Beck. “Why didn't you tell me he had a dog?!”

“I’m sorry,” Beck said. “I didn’t think he would bring him.”

“You couldn’t have told him not to-”

More footsteps. “Okay, seriously, what’s your problem with joy and love?”

Junichi shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, I do! Who doesn’t like puppies?! Gingersnap’s not even a fully grown dog!”

“Hansel,” Beck said, “you don’t want to know. Just trust me.”

“Yes I do!”

Junichi sighed. “Beck-sama, could you maybe whisper it in his ear or something? I don’t think he’ll let up otherwise.”

More footsteps. Whispers that were mercifully quiet enough.

“… Oh. Ohhhh, holy shit, that is fucking sick.”

And a brother who wasn’t.

“I’m going home,” Hansel said. His voice was tight.

That suited Junichi just fine.

Chapter 5

“Uh… hyeong?”

“Hm?”

“What is… this?”

The “this” Gang motioned to made Choe roll his eyes. “A corkboard, red string, and thumbtacks.”

“Okay, fair, better question. Why?”

“To help keep everything in order for my investigation. Duh.”

Well. It was official. His brother had lost his mind.

“What investigation?” Gang asked. “Wait, is this about that girl? The one from the-”

“Gloria. And yes. Given that police can’t be trusted to do their fucking jobs, someone has to solve this.”

“And… that someone is you?”

“Yes, Gang, try to keep up.”

“Are you on the wrong medication again?”

“No, this one doesn’t have hallucination side effects.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I’m sure. If not me, who?”

“The police? A number of private investigators? The fucking internet?”

“Oh, I’m already getting help from the internet.”

Gang sighed. “I… feel like you’re forgetting an important point.”

“Which is?”

“You are not, have never been, and probably never will be a professional detective.”

“What’s your fucking point? The real ones aren’t doing shit. They think it’s Leon!”

“Leon?”

Choe pointed to the wall. A tall young man with a snapback cap and long dark hair.

“He’s the world fucking champion! He didn’t need to kill her! And, anyway, he’s too nice. No killer instinct.”

“And yet you suspect her twin brother.”

“He has something in his eyes.”

“You sure it’s not just the imperialism?” Gang muttered.

“Watch it. You’re not allowed to judge people for where they come from.”

“… Who are you and what have you done to my hyeong?”

“Shut up! I don’t trust him. He’s always been jealous of her.”

“I thought they got along pretty well.”

He held up the picture. “Victor Yuzuru is a liar and a con and I’m going to prove it!”

“He’s a kid who just lost his sister. Give him a break.”

Too late. Choe was already setting up the board. And Victor’s face was currently under the “main suspect” label. “Now, supposedly, he and Lance were playing a game at the time of the murder. I think they’re covering for each other.”

“Why?”

“Because there was a rape. Obviously Victor wouldn’t want to do that to her.”

“Have you not been paying attention at the Palace? Smoke and Mirrors-”

“Smoke and Mirrors were dropped as children.”

“… I’m not saying I disagree, but…”

“Gloria was too smart to be dropped as a baby. So is Victor.”

“Uhhh, okayyy, so-”

“So no incest. Lance on the other hand…”

“I thought he liked Gloria. Isn’t he the one who would have asked her to lead the team?”

“Please, he was probably just threatened by her. Maybe he wanted Victor on the team instead…”

“That’s a lot of maybes, Choe.”

“Well, somebody did something!”

“It could have been anyone who was there that day… Hold on, why is Red Ketchum’s face crossed out?”

“Oh, Red has an alibi.”

“He does?”

“Yeah. Rock solid. Airtight. It wasn’t him.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Just trust me.”

“Uh-huh… Blue Oak’s face is also crossed out.”

“Also an airtight alibi.”

“Um-”

“I don’t want to talk about it!”

“… How come you’re only looking at the guys?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it could have been a girl, right? Cynthia or Iris or… well, probably not Iris.”

“Have you seen the dress she was wearing? No one could kill anyone in that getup.”

“Well, what about the other girls?”

“Mmmm… I’m not ruling them out, but based on the, ahem, damage, at least one of the boys were involved.”

“How the hell would you know about the damage?”

“I plead the fifth.”

“We’re not even American citizens. And I’m not a cop.”

“They showed me the pictures. They weren’t supposed to. I may have called the cop and…”

“Choe.”

“And Iris is just a kid too. She wouldn’t hurt anybody. Cynthia… I don’t know… I don’t like the way she looks at that boy…”

“Who? Lucas? He’s her assistant.”

“And?” Choe sniffed. “The most likely suspect is still Victor though.”

“You need therapy.”

“I’m in therapy.”

“And what did Dr. Abbagale say about this?”

Choe rubbed the back of his head. “I… didn’t… tell her about this?”

“And why is that?”

“Look, I know I sound crazy-”

“Because you are.”

“But I know, I just know I’m onto something here. And if you help me out, we can-”

“Whoa whoa whoa.” Gang waved his hands. “There is no ‘we’ here. You can play detective on your own.”

“Hmph.”

~

Elliot Shagg knew the upstairs neighbors didn’t like him. (At least, Mr. Ji didn’t. Ma-gang was… alright.) And Ace didn’t have much to say about them. So he wasn’t quite sure what to expect when his brother’s boss showed up at his door.

“You know about detectives, right?”

“I guess? Sorry, Mr. Ji, I’m not sure what you’re-”

“I need your help.”

“With… what?”

“I’m trying to investigate a murder. You… write a detective, so you’re the closest thing to a professional I have.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“So… if I am understanding you correctly… you… want me… to help you investigate an actual murder… because I write a television show about a detective?”

“Yes!”

Goddamnit, who had failed to tell him his upstairs neighbor was on drugs? “Mr. Ji…? Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m not crazy!”

“Rrright…”

“Look, I helped you. I didn’t even ask for your brother to pay me back. You owe me.”

“I’m not in any way qualified to-”

“It’ll get you out of the house and away from your stepdad.”

“… So, you said there was a murder?”

Chapter 6

“Alright… and remind me why these two aren’t suspects?”

“I told you. Red and Blue have an alibi.”

“And that alibi is-”

“Airtight and no one’s business.”

“Um-?”

Mr. Ji glared.

“Okay, okay! Fine! Not them… And this Leon guy? Don’t the police think he did it?”

“The police are fucking idiots! And so are you if you think they’re right about anything.”

“Well, it makes more sense than her brother…”

“Alright then, Mr. Detective Man. Give me one good reason why you think Leon-”

“Oh, I never said I thought it was him. You’re right, there’s no motive. Gloria wasn’t actively competing and he doesn’t seem the sort to be jealous.”

Mr. Ji blinked. “… O-…-kay… Then who do you think it was?”

“Personally? I think your suspect list is too narrow.” Eliot walked up to the board. “Right now you only have people who are on the team or directly affiliated with it. Most of them would have been busy with the Olympiad prep. Truth be told, I doubt it was any of them.”

“So, what? Should I be looking at the entire building?”

“Of course not. But don’t just focus on the team, or direct acquaintances. My guess is it was someone she knew, but not someone she knew well.”

“Why the hell would you think that?”

“Because I watch the news. Teenage girl grandmaster - she got a lot of attention because of that. And she was Asian.”

“Mixed Asian. Even some of the other Japanese kids thought she was… Whatever. Yeah, I guess… I know she was getting death threats.”

“And what about the people who didn’t get a place on the team? Maybe she made enemies that way.”

“So you think someone was jealous…”

“Because she got what they didn’t.”

“Great. Great. So…”

“How are we supposed to know who was and wasn’t booted from the team at some point in the recent past? Or if she’d gotten any obsessive followers?”

“… Yeah.”

“Easy. We ask. We need to talk to someone close to Gloria-”

“Her brother! Yes! We’ll crack his alibi apart.”

Eliot looked at Mr. Ji. “Do I have permission to dope-slap you in the back of the head?”

“No!”

“Even if I thought this kid was guilty - which I don’t - we can’t just come at him swinging. We’ll look like lunatics harassing a grieving child!”

“Well who do you suggest we… Wait…”

“What?”

“Hop! We can talk to Hop - the champion’s kid brother, they used to hang out together. I think they’re all from Boston.”

“Not a bad idea. We may also want to talk to Red. You seem convinced he’s innocent-”

“He is innocent.”

“So that gives us a reliable source of information within the team who would know of any hopeful applicants that were shot down. Not to mention someone more familiar with the chess circle in the area.”

“Yeah… yeah, you’ve got a pretty good point.”

“Now, is there any way to approach them without looking like ephebophiles?”

“I think we can…” Mr. Ji trailed off. “… What’s an ephebophile?”

“It’s someone who’s attracted to people who aren’t adults but are in the later stages of puberty.”

“That just sounds like pedophilia-”

“Pedophilia is attraction to prepubescent kids.”

“Ummm-”

“Not to be confused with hebephilia, which is the attraction to kids in the middle stages of puberty.”

“You want to tell me something, Shagg?”

“Relax. I’m a writer, I’ve had to look up some… things.”

“I can not think of a single point of context in your show where you would need to know that information.”

“I write other things.”

“Still can’t think of an innocent explanation.”

“Predator who’s a stickler for vocabulary.”

Ji blinked at him. “Seriously, which one are you?”

“All three, if you ask WaddleWorld.”

“Whatever. I’m not letting my kids anywhere near you.”

“You don’t even have kids.” Eliot looked down at the pictures again. “Well, I have an idea, but you’re not going to like it.”

“What?”

“What if we get another teenager to talk to them?”

“Where do we get another teenager? Ace isn’t that good an actor.”

“This is the part you're not going to like.”

Chapter 7

“You want my help?! Hot dog!”

“… You must be kidding.”

Milo Plangklang smiled in from the doorway. Mr. Ji almost shut the door in his face.

Mr. Shagg caught his arm. “Hey! We need the kid, remember?”

“This kid?”

“Do you know another teenager?”

“Sure, there are plent-”

“Who’s willing to talk to you?”

“Fuck you… Wait, why are you talking to me?”

“I’m grounded, and Phx took Oscar to the orthodontist soooo…”

“I’m harboring a fugitive.”

“Oooh! You ARE fun!”

“Whatever kid, you want to help us solve a murder?”

“YES!”

“Cool. We need your help so we can talk to teenagers we barely know without looking creepy.”

“Yes sir!” Milo saluted at them. “Who do you need to talk to?”

Mr. Ji handed over two pictures. “Do you know these two?”

“Red? Yeah! He goes to my school! I think I’ve seen the other guy around… maybe?”

“So you’re friends?”

“I… didn’t say that.”

“Enemies?”

“I’m not really supposed to talk to Red after, uh… He kinda beat the shit out of a cop’s kid and the kid’s parents made a whole thing out of it. Dad doesn’t want me mixed up with any… ah, I don’t know what the white people word is but it’s probably a bad one.”

“So Red is violent?” Mr. Shagg elbowed Mr. Ji.

“Alibi.”

“Are you-”

“Air. Tight. Any way you can talk to Red without your father finding out?”

“Oh yeah. I talk to him loads already.”

“You just said-”

“Pfffft. You think I listen to everything my phx says?”

Mr. Ji blinked. “Do you listen to anything he says?”

“No.”

“Great, you’re just like my brother.”

“Which should come in handy right about now.” Mr. Shagg nodded. “Okay, Milo. You seem like just the man for the task.”

~

“Mr. Ji! Open up!”

Milo Plangklang was back. And he had three boys with him. Three boys that Mr. Ji recognized.

“I told you I just needed Hop and Red.”

“I brought Blue.” Red squeezed his hand. “He was there too, you know that.”

“… Is he on the suspect-”

“Alibi.” Mr. Ji, Red, and Blue all spoke in unison.

“… Right. Well, why don’t you all come in? Did Milo tell you why-”

“You’re trying to find the son of a bitch that murdered Gloria, right?”

“Er, yes,” Mr. Shagg said. “We have a list of the people who were there that day. Right now Mr. Ji, here, thinks it was the brother.”

“Uhhh, why?”

“He was jealous of her!”

“No he wasn’t.”

“Dude, Vic didn’t want to be captain. He’s shy.”

“I think Iris is behind it,” Blue spoke up. “She’s a jealous type.”

Mr. Ji blinked. “Did you see the dress she was wearing? Or were you too busy suc- er, with your alibi to-”

“She didn’t have to be there. She could have asked one of the guys to do it for her. Girls are persuasive like that.”

“Uhh…” Mr. Ji shook his head. “That still brings us back to a man being involved.”

“Maybe she got her dad to do it. Or one of her weird brothers.”

“They’re not weird,” Hop said, “they just have… RAD or something.”

“Or maybe it was Diantha! Guys do whatever she says anyway.”

“Again, that still means there was a guy.” Mr. Ji pointed out. “Let’s maybe focus our energy on that, hm? When we know the man involved, then we’ll jump him and ask if anyone made him do it.”

“And if it was another teenager?” Mr. Shagg asked.

“Then we’ll ask Red to jump him so we don’t look like pedophiles.”

“Wouldn’t that be an ephebophile?” Red asked.

“See! He knows too!”

“He probably reads your weird books.”

“It’s true,” Blue said. “He does.”

“What if it was more than one guy?” Hop asked.

“Then I’LL jump the other one!”

“Milo, no.”

“MILO, YES!”

“We’ll all jump them!” Blue declared. “And then we’ll kill them! Red knows how to get away with murder!“

Both Mr. Shagg and Mr. Ji stare at Red in concern.

“Relax. It’s just because I read Mr. Shagg’s books.”

This caused Mr. Ji to stare at Mr. Shagg.

“I write mysteries, what do you expect?”

“Well, no one’s jumping anyone until we figure out who we need to jump.”

“Oh! What about this guy?” Milo said, walking over to the board. “The stripper!”

“Wallace?” Mr. Ji actually laughed. So did Red. So did Blue.

“If Alain DeLis turned up dead, yeah, okay, maybe. But Gloria wasn’t even a blip on his radar.”

“Alain DeLis?”

“Steven Stone’s other boyfriend. I don’t know what’s going on there, just that it’s messy and time-consuming. No chance of him planning a murder.”

“I think it’s a situation where he’s dating both of them? Maybe?”

“Who knows?”

“Okay, okay, Wallace is out.” Milo pointed to another picture. “What about Lance?”

Hop and Red laughed.

“You have no idea the amount of work he put into getting Gloria on the team. There’s no way he’d toss that aside for any reason.”

“She was just a kid from-”

“She was a monster. You’d have to have seen her, but she was a monster.”

“Probably the best player we’ve seen to date - at least, at her age. She was good. No way anyone would mess that up.”

“Why the fuck is he covering for Victor then?!”

“Who the fuck… Mr. Ji, I think you really need to let the Victor theory go.”

“If he’s guilty, then the evidence will point to him, right?”

“Hmph. Well who do you want to look into?”

“We could ask the seconds,” Blue said. “None of them are suspects.”

“Mr. Ji didn’t pay attention to any of them.”

“No! I didn’t pay attention to most of them!”

“Do you even know who all of them are?”

“… Er…”

“Most of the seconds tried and failed to get onto the actual team.”

Shagg looked at Ji. “Oh, so they have a motive.”

“Not really, a lot of people tried and failed.” Blue shrugged. “I did. But Lance still flew plenty of ‘em out here. They seemed okay with that.”

“Yeah, I think Selene’s from Hawaii. Cynthia’s from here, but Lucas isn’t, and… Shit! What about that one girl?” Hop asked. “The one with the leather jacket.”

“Marnie? Oh… Oh! You’re right!”

“Who the fuck is Marnie?”

“She was supposed to be the captain, before Gloria. Another prodigy. The chairman accidentally sent out the invitation… and she and her brother… Fuck! They looked pretty pissed about it…”

Mr. Shagg smirked in spite of himself. “See? This is why you need to talk to people, Ji.” His expression turned serious. “Were they in the building at the time?”

“I think so…?”

“And would they have had the means to perform the murder? In… the way it was performed?”

“You mean, by chopping her fucking head off?” Red thought. “As much as anyone else, I guess… H-how did that happen anyway?”

“I think the police have yet to locate a weapon.”

Mr. Ji rolled his eyes. “Convenient,” he muttered. “Wait, so it’s Marnie and her brother?”

“The motive is there, I’d say.”

“And they’re creepy.”

“They were angry with Gloria-”

“And they’re creepy.”

“One of them had the… biology… to hurt her…”

“AND they’re-”

“Blue, we get it.”

“How old are they?”

“Piers - I think that’s his name - is like… twenty-something? Marnie’s like fifteen, maybe a little older. Probably older than Gloria, anyway. That’s why the chairman passed her up.”

“Okay, so we need a way to get to Marnie and Piers.”

“Uh, Piers we might be able to do. Marnie…” Blue rubbed his neck. “I don’t know where Marnie is. No one’s talked to her for a while…”

Chapter 8

Summary:

We'd like to thank Anon the guest writer for this one!

The three didn't know what they were expecting when they looked into the room, but this wasn’t exactly it. Granted, two of the three had already known due to hearing mentions of it at the Palace, but they were rather impressed by the small investigation team. The corkboard was almost disappearing under red string, and - most surprising of all - Ma-choe Ji appeared to be speaking politely to his neighbour Eliot Shagg.

Lah blinked at the sight as Ena went to hand over a fruit basket; she was waved off by the grey-haired man at the corkboard, but she smiled and put it on the coffee table anyway. Tiffany stayed in the hallway, and Lah whispered to her. “What’s all this about?”

“Oh, he’s investigating the murder of a friend of his,” Tiffany explained. “He thinks the cops got the wrong guy, so he’s working on an investigation himself. Ena and I only heard about it during our Palace meetings. Ena wanted to give them something to wish them good luck, and seeing as it’s on the way up to my apartment, we thought we might as well make a quick stop.”

Lah looked over the scene inside; Ma-choe was grumbling to Red and Blue about a lead not going anywhere, while Ena asked Eliot to sign an autograph for a friend’s young relative.

“Mind if I see how the investigation is unfolding before we go back to do our movie night?”

“Not at all. I’ve been hoping this would turn up something others had missed,” Tiffany said. Not that she had any right to judge; her friends knew she was working on her own personal investigation of another Gloria.

Lah entered, waving her friends off as they headed upstairs. Ma-choe scowled slightly but nodded to her, and she examined the conspiracy board.

“I see you managed to confirm the innocence of two people on your suspect list already. How did-”

“Airtight alibi,” the two suspects and Ma-Choe said at the exact same time, the latter adding, “and nobody’s business.”

Lah blinked, then hid a snicker. “Anyway, what else has your investigation turned up?” she asked, looking over to Eliot.

“So far, we got a lead on some suspects. But we’ve had no luck contacting them, even the one that didn’t go radio silent.”

Lah pondered silently, then asked, “What do you know about the murder?”

“You sure you want to know?”

Lah nodded. “Just so I can see if I can help out with this.”

Eliot sighed. “Apparently the body was pretty torn up - the head was actually removed. And she was also raped on top of that. Ma-choe suspects a boy did it, with the… damages the latter caused.”

“You sure it was a guy? Remember Rotgut and Gravedigger, or the Princess?”

“Who?” asked Eliot. “Sorry, I don’t go to the Palace.”

Lah ticked them off on her fingers. “Beer bottle, hockey stick, and her aunt finger-raped her in the bath.”

Ma-choe grimaced. “I saw the pictures, there was a lot more, ah, pink than you’d get from that. Wasn’t from anyone in the cops’ database, or they’d have caught him already.”

“Okay… Is anyone there trans? Could have been a girl.”

“How would I know? I know how good gender reassignment treatment is nowadays, I’m South Korean!”

“Well, it’s statistically unlikely but possible,” Eliot mused. “We’d have to tread carefully, though - rape of a little girl in a bathroom? We accuse an innocent trans woman of something so stereotypical and both we and the investigation are dead.”

“I think you can rule out Cynthia at least,” Red said. “Pretty sure she’s given birth - I’ve seen Verity around and I doubt she’s adopted. Grey eyes aren’t that common in Asians, even part-white Asians.”

“Doesn’t mean she wasn’t working behind the scenes,” Blue piped up.

“True. Damn, this is complicated.”

Lah thought. “Well, do you guys have any idea of a motive? If they had no reason to, it doesn’t matter if they theoretically could have.”

“Ma-choe thinks it’s jealousy. So far, we think Piers and Marnie are top suspects since Marnie was passed over for captain in favour of Gloria, but we’ve had no luck with contacting them.”

“What if it was a complete stranger?”

Eliot looked at her in confusion.

“The motive might not be related to jealousy at all. For all we know it might have just been a serial pedophile who killed her when she fought back. Or maybe they did it for sick amusement. Or she was just a means to an end to get at their real target.”

Eliot stared blankly at her, then frowned and tapped his chin. “Mm… no. No, I really don’t think someone would commit a crime of opportunity in such a crowded building with a famous kid if it wasn’t somehow personal. This is Calisota, if they just wanted any kid they could snatch one off the streets and never be caught! But you’re right, it could have been someone with some kind of fixation on her, or someone trying to get at someone else. Ma-choe, did anyone have a grudge against Victor?”

“Fuck! I don’t know! Now we’re right back where we started!” Ma-choe yanked the tangle of red string and pins out of the corkboard in one go, and dumped it on the floor. “Victor wasn’t the only person they might have been trying to get to! For all I know the North could have tracked me down!” He tried to take a step, then started cursing up a storm when the pins went through his slipper.

Lah watched, trying not to laugh again. “Well, if if helps the original theory…” She pointed to the photo of Marnie, in which the girl was flanked by punks in pink and black. “Who are those guys? Members of the chess thing?”

“No, they’re friends of Marnie’s,” said Blue. “Weird kids, they don’t seem like chess types, do they?”

“No… but they look like they might have really wanted her to win.”

Chapter 9

Gretel turned as her brother entered the kitchen. “Hansel, you’re… early.” She sighed. “I thought I told you to leave Gingersnap at home.”

“Is it still here?”

“If by ‘it’ you mean my criminal informant, then yes. He is very much still here.” A pause. “Actually, come to think of it, I never did ask Watanabe’s pronouns…”

“I don’t care what he calls himself!”

“Hansel!”

“What?! I don’t! I… He…” His lower lip trembled and he buried his face in Gingersnap’s fur. “Shh… Shh… That’s a good dog…”

Gretel stared at her brother for a moment, mouth slightly agape, until he finally sighed. “They called us ‘it’, you know?” It’s only kind of a question. “So I really don’t give a damn about his feelings on this, or any other matter. And neither should you.”

“… Okay, spill.” Gretel sat down at the table, motioning for him to take the stool next to hers. “I knew you’d be upset, but I didn’t think you’d be, well, uh-”

“You’re actually surprised I take issue with someone like him walking around with normal people?”

“Hansel, I’m sorry, I understand this is hard for you, but you don’t have anything to worry about. As a CI he has to be kept under supervision. There’s no chance he’s going to hurt you-”

“Oh, I don’t really care about that.” Hansel waved it away. “I mean, it already happened to me, so even if he tried… or succeeded… I’d know what to expect. What I’m worried about is you.”

Gretel blinked. “Me?”

“Yeah. It hasn’t happened to you. And…” Hansel bit his lip. “… and… you don’t have to deal with… those feelings. So if it did happen then we’d both have to handle it, and, well, better me than you.”

“Hansel…” Her mouth was dry. She swallowed the lump in her throat. “That’s not- I…”

“Sorry, I mean, better just me than me and you,” he added. “It’s not like I’d rather switch places or anything, but still.”

“That isn’t how this works.” She put her hands on both of his shoulders and squeezed. “And Watanabe isn’t going to hurt me, okay?”

“You don’t know that. Maybe you should borrow Gingersnap? Just in case.”

“I don’t think that’s going to be necessary. Besides, he’s your dog. That’s the whole point.”

Gingersnap snuggled himself into Hansel’s lap, and Hansel pet him. “It’s just… Why work with him?”

“As an Ark employee, he knows a lot about the organization and how it operates. And besides, he’s easy to work with.”

“Easy? He worked with the Ark! He’s dangerous!” Hansel sighed. “How can he be left to his own devices, even now?“

“Hansel…”

“It’s not like you can trust him. And do you have to put him up in your house?”

“Where else are we going to keep him?”

“Jail? A tent in the yard? Maybe a nice big cage?”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not joking!” His voice was raw. “I’ll… If he steps one toe out of line-”

“Please, can we not do this now?”

“When else are we going to be able to? I just…” Hansel sighed. “You’re going to be safe, right?”

“Of course I will. I’m a trained agent of the FBI.”

“That… doesn’t really answer my question.”

Gretel sighed. “Well… he’s a CI. The entire point is knowing he has a criminal past. It’s not like I’m clueless about what he could do to me.”

~

The next time he’d been warned about the brother. He’d been told not to bring the dog. Junichi was still insistent on staying in his room, door closed and locked, and headphones on. Not that he was listening to anything. They just helped to block out the noise.

“… dangerous!” A few words floated in regardless. “How… trust… your house?!”

“CI… the point…”

Oh, great, he’d sparked family drama. Maybe he would turn on some music. He was just getting to that when something shattered and the conversation tapered off.

“Gingersnap!”

No. No. Nononono. This isn’t happening. Junichi fumbled for the door… and fell to the ground. Then the barking started. He let out a muffled wail.

“This is why I told you not to bring him!”

“Oh, what, we need to spare his feelings?! Since when would you care?! Why should you care?!”

“Hansel, please, I-”

“After what he did?! To that little girl?! To her family?! To his?!”

His…?

“He doesn’t need to-”

“Gretel, he let them rape his little sister! I could never… I…”

“I know,” she said, like it hurt. “Why don’t you take Gingersnap for a walk? I can’t deal with you when you’re… I’m sorry. I can’t right now.”

Junichi slammed open his door and ran downstairs, suddenly not caring. He grabbed… someone. Hoped it was him.

“Hey, get your hands off of me!”

Apparently it was. “Dare ga Makiko o reipu shita no?!”

Hansel blinked. “What the hell are you saying?!”

Junichi growled. “I said I want to know who the fuck touched my sister!”

“Like you care!” Hansel grabbed Junichi’s wrist, prying it off. “I read all about what you did! You’re fucking sick!”

“Hansel, please, let’s not do this now-”

“You sold your own little sister to those monsters! What the fuck were you thinking?!”

Something snapped. He grabbed at the man’s shirt. “Now, you listen here, you no-good, immature, selfish, lazy snake-oil salesman. I don’t know what the fuck you’re on about, but whatever it is, you are wrong. Do you have any idea the amount of shit I have had to go through just to be able to make sure my siblings were safe?!” He didn’t allow Hansel to continue. “Everything I have done I did to make sure they didn’t get hurt! Nothing that happened to me mattered if it meant they didn’t have to go through the same shit! The rape! The blindness! The beatings! The dogs! If any of that happened to any of them I don’t know what I would do! And now you’re telling me that something terrible did happen to one of them, and you refuse to tell me what bastard I need to rip apart?! If you have any inclination to tell me what the fuck you’re on about, tell me now, because unlike you, I’m actually responsible enough to look after my little sister!”

Hansel stilled in his grasp. Then he pulled his fist back and hit Junichi so hard that he fell to the floor.

“Hansel, wait!”

But he was gone. And the front door slammed behind him.

“I’m not going to hold that against you,” Beck said - deceptively calm, all things considered, “but if you ever-”

“What aren’t you telling me?! What happened to Makiko?!”

She sighed heavily. “Here, let me help you… You’re going to want to sit down.”

Chapter 10

Junichi was sitting. He pointed his head in Gretel’s direction. “… So, how bad is it?”

“Well…”

“Just tell me. They’re my family, I need to know.”

A sigh. “Alright… Did you read- I mean, listen to the other letters that were spliced together with yours? On that website?”

He shook his head. “What does-”

“Okay, so basically… it seems that… Well, three other people wrote in to the site as well. And the moderators thought the things they said were similar enough to the things you said to put them all together. And the things they said were similar - more like the same, actually, because they also talked about losing both their parents, and the two youngest siblings getting sick… and the oldest brother trying to earn the money to help them…”

Junichi went quiet. Eerily so.

“Watanabe…?”

“You mean… It was…” He put a hand to his mouth. “Shit… I just went straight to the advice portion, I didn't want to listen to my letter over again… H-how… how bad was…” He trailed off.

“They were worried,” she said. “The younger ones… Sachiko and-”

“Makiko and Sachio. W-what about Ryuki?”

There was silence, and his brain brought up a memory of his mother’s face when she was nervous; lips pressed thin as a spider’s line. Was that how Beck looked?

“What happened to-”

“Another warehouse like yours, if you can believe it. They had him working there and… well…”

Junichi thought for a moment. “When… when you say like mine…”

“… Yes… In just about every way.”

Junichi leaned back. “Fūkuro bastard, probably made the same offer to him, I’m… cer-… Wait.” He bolted up. “If I was being held hostage and they got Ryuki too… S-something happened to Makiko and Sachio. Didn’t it? W-when… when Hansel said she… was…”

A deep breath. “Yes. Yes, it does appear the Ark took them as well.”

He could feel the blood drain from his face.

“She got curious. They made a deal. For information on you two…” He knew from the change in sound that she’d turned her head, unable to face him. “I’m sorry.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was going to wait for them to reach out first. I… I’m sorry,” Beck repeated.

And she kept at it.

~

He could hear the footsteps behind him, and he still didn’t move.

“My sister told me what happened.”

“Go. Away.” Junichi didn’t even move when he said that. He hadn’t moved much the past few days.

“You know, were you really expecting anything else?” Hansel said. “You took a job with sex traffickers. Of course it’s going to fuck up your life. You should have just walked away.”

“I’ll remember that for next time.” The words were ground out between his teeth. “Not all of us are lucky enough to have-”

“Don’t you dare call me lucky. You have no idea.”

“Like you know me any better.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I judging the human trafficker a little too harshly?” Hansel sounded mad enough to spit. “That kid had a family too, you know. Did you ever th-think of that?”

“OF COURSE I DID!” Junichi turned. “YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT I’M SELFISH?!”

“I don’t know. Do you?”

There was a long, long pause.

“… I am. I know I am.” Junichi collapsed again. “I just…”

“You just what? There’s nothing you can say or do that’s going to make this better. You ruined her life, and you ruined theirs. How do you sleep at night?”

“I don’t.” Junichi curled in on himself. “I know, okay? I know it’s selfish of me to want things at the expense of others. I know I’m not worth it.”

“So, why get tangled up with it at all? There were other ways you could have helped them, you know.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, holding her for ransom? Robbing a bank? Selling your kidneys? You didn’t need to… That’s the worst thing you could possibly-”

“I know, okay? You’re not… Just stop. You don’t need to change my mind, I already hate myself for what I did.” Junichi bit back a sob. “It’s too late now to do anything differently.”

“I wouldn’t have let them take Gretel.”

“You were never in that situation.”

Chapter 11

He had the dog again.

There was more barking. Junichi was actually biting his hand this time. He wasn’t going to give the bastard the satisfaction of his reaction.

“Still scared of a fucking corgi?”

“Just leave,” Junichi mumbled, but there was no real bite to it.

“Why don’t you?”

Because I’m petrified and I don’t think I can move. Not that he could say that. He settled on shrugging.

“Can you at least try to be nice?” Beck called from the kitchen. “Just until I finish cooking.”

“You’re not making one of Granny’s recipes, are you?”

“She was a good cook!”

“She was a con artist!”

“Look who’s talking,” Junichi mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Does the baby rapist want to comment on my line of work?”

“You fucking look.”

He doesn’t want to, but the kid is making him. Forcing him to look at the screen.

“What’s the matter? You’ve seen worse. You’ve probably done worse. So you fucking look at that, and look carefully. One of those things is going to happen to you.” He can hear the grin in the kid’s voice. “But at least you’ll get to pick which one.”

There’s a man on the screen, in a large, antique cage - the kind that might have been used for circus animals back in the day. (Not anymore, of course. Too small. Too cramped. Too inhumane.) He’s naked. He isn’t crying, but his eyes are red.

“Over here!”

He looks right at the camera and the lens shakes while the one holding it stifles a laugh. The man bites his lip.

“Come on, Mr. Beck, you know what you have to do. Spread your legs.”

The man on the film is shaking, but he does as he’s told. On his side of the screen, Junichi’s shaking too. He’s too smart to beg for mercy, but he lets out a whimper.

The kid tugs at his hair. “Make another noise until I say so and you get everything at once.”

He keeps his eyes on the screen. Knife blade; hot gun barrel; live snakes; burning lighter (“Lucky I don’t use the fluid as lube.” “You’d better not, ugly doesn’t sell.”); fresh batteries… The man on the screen heaves and vomits. Junichi gags.

“What? Can’t the baby rapist handle a little blood?”

In less than a second he was on the floor, Beck’s brother trapped beneath him. Junichi wrapped his hands around his neck. He started to tighten. This would probably get him thrown back into prison, but he didn’t care. He shouldn’t care. He…

… Mr. Beck…

Hansel gasped as Junichi’s grip loosened. “What is wrong with-”

He fell back on his knees, gaping at the other man. “What color is your hair?”

“Wha-? You try to choke me and-”

“Just… answer the question.”

“It’s blond, okay?!”

“… I… They…” His hand curled beneath him. “If I said I’d seen your videos… that they made me pick one… would that mean anything to you?”

There was no answer. It took him a minute to realize Hansel had left the room.

Chapter 12

“Watanabe,” Beck said. She didn’t sound happy.

Junichi lay on the floor of ‘his’ bedroom. Not his for much longer, probably… His voice cracked. “Yeah, boss?”

“My brother told me what happened.”

“… I didn’t know.”

“That isn’t an excuse-”

“Yeah, I know. Everyone keeps assuming I don’t know but I do.” He started to stand. “Look, if you’re in here to fire me or throw me in prison or… whatever the hell you call it, just tell me. May as well add ‘be a good criminal informant’ to my ever-growing list of mistakes.”

“Junichi.”

He stopped. “You’re using my first name now?”

“This is a personal conversation.”

“Are you going to send me back?”

“No,” Beck said. “I should have been more upfront with you from the get-go… about your family, if nothing else. Not that I’m happy about you trying to kill mine.”

“I guess I know why he hates me.”

Beck hummed in agreement. “Listen, about Hansel…”

“You don’t have to tell me.”

“You already know about some of it.” She groaned. “Besides, I can’t just not see my brother. It’s probably best that you get the right idea about who he is.”

“Wait, so he’s not a con-artist?” It slipped out without him meaning to.

Beck snorted. “Oh, no, he is. But…” A sigh. “But that’s not all he is.” A pause. “You’ve been here a while, can you find your bed?”

“I’m gonna want to sit down,” he translated. “Got it.” He did settle on the edge of the bed, and he felt the material sink next to him; Beck was sitting too. “So what’s the deal?”

“Did I ever tell you I lost my parents when I was young?”

“I’m sorry.” He paused. “Me too… but you already knew that.”

“They were agents,” she said. “Like me. They’re why I wanted to become an agent. And so did my brother.”

“He did?”

“Yeah, well, things change. Hansel and I went to live with our grandmother. She… wasn’t a good person.”

Junichi remembered a passing comment about a grandmother in another state, spoken coldly and expressing a bitter grudge. “She sold him?”

“What? No! Of course not.” He could feel the air currents caused by her shaking her head. “She took our inheritance and ran away to Honolulu.”

“I thought it was Miami.”

“Wherever. Point is, we didn’t see her after that.”

“Took your inheritance…” Junichi murmured. “Sheesh. Kinda glad my grandparents were already out of the picture.” A pause. “Wait, if your grandmother left, who took care of you? It sounds like you were still young.”

“We were bounced around, mostly. At least we were kept together, a lot of others don’t get that luxury.” He could guess she was tightening her hands. “But a lot of it was him working behind my back to help provide for us. I always thought he was skipping school because he wanted to, and his grades started slipping, too. He probably still could have gotten into college, but… they weren’t great. I thought that was him being irresponsible.”

Junichi shook his head slightly. “But it wasn’t.”

“When I turned eighteen, an envelope showed up at the house. He told me I’d won a scholarship. I believed that for years, and when he dropped out to start doing magic shows, of all things…” Beck let out a long, shuddering breath. “I wouldn’t have minded so much if it weren’t for the crystals and things. I hate scammers. I didn’t speak to him for years.”

“Wait, you didn’t even speak to him?” That was a bit hard for him to wrap his head around. “I mean… he’s your brother. Doesn’t that outweigh the crystal thing?”

“It should have. I know it should have… but I didn’t want to talk to him. If… if I’d only known what he was doing for me, I would have…”

“What he was doing?”

A sigh. “He lied about the scholarship. He was really taking out loans and paying for my education. That’s why he started doing everything else…” She was sagging, he knew it.

“Hey…” Junichi cautiously reached forward, put a hand on her shoulder. “That’s not on you. You know that, right? He just wanted to look out for you. It’s what older brothers do.”

“I graduated with honors, joined up with the Feds… I thought my parents would be proud of me. I didn’t think they’d be proud of him…” Beck looked down at her lap, folding and unfolding her hands. “I… Eventually he stopped reaching out.”

“Because…”

“No. Well, yes, but… He was only there for a few weeks. We lost contact before any of that.”

“Because you wanted to?”

“… Yes.”

“Well…” Junichi rubbed the back of his neck. “That sucks. Did you know when he was taken? Like, did the police contact you or anything?”

She went quiet.

“… Are… you okay?”

“He contacted me. After he got out.” She sighed. “He told me what happened… and… I didn’t believe him.”

Junichi went quiet for quite some time, then asked, “Why?”

“I thought he was making it up…”

“For attention? Or to get in contact with you again?” Junichi shook his head. “I feel like there are easier ways to go about that.”

“I felt like… like he’d ruined his own life already, and now he wanted to drag me down with him. I don’t know, I still can’t forgive myself.”

“But you two seem so close,” Junichi said. “Er, how did you, um…”

“I pulled a truck off the road a few months later - a truck with people in the storage hold. I was looking into another kidnapping at the time, but-” She choked. “They knew him. The man I arrested gave up access to the site…”

“You saw his videos?”

“Not all of them. How bad did they get?”

“… It was pretty bad,” Junichi admitted. “I’m not gonna sugarcoat it, most of his were ‘speciality’ stuff. Lotta weird shit. I don’t know if he’s talked to you about what he went through, but… there was a reason the kid had me to pick one of his.”

He felt her shaking as she exhaled. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m sorry. You know, about everything. And… I’m sorry for him too. You can tell him, or… I don’t know if he’d want to see me.”

“He’s…” Beck trailed off. “He’s a good brother.”

“Yeah. You’re lucky to have him. And… and lucky that he’s in your life.” A laugh. “Wow… Come to think of it, for all my talk of what I did for my siblings, I haven’t actually spoken to them in years. Ironic, huh? And he actually sounds like he did a better job than I ever did.”

Beck picked a ball of lint from her sleeve. “I might be able to help you out with that. The former thing, not the… well, you know.”

Chapter 13

Watanabe wasn’t looking into the camera.

Obviously, Gretel had needed to set up the call. It hadn’t been easy - find the mini-demons, get in contact with their guardians, call in some favors with a few Interpol officers to get in touch with Japanese law enforcement to finally reach the other brother - but she’d still done it. And her CI seemed happy. Too bad she didn’t understand much Japanese…

She couldn’t help but get a little misty-eyed at how relieved he’d sounded to hear their voices, and how animatedly he’d started talking. There’d been laughing, apparently some in-jokes. Had she heard him laugh before?

At the mention of the word “Yakuza”, she stiffened. “Wait a minute, what was that?”

Watanabe waved his hand. “Oh, ignore that, my sister was just kidding around.” He turned back to the computer. “Ī ne, Bekku-sama ga shinpaidatta.”

Gretel nodded, if only a little. She got the feeling she’d still have to ask a few questions later…

“Oh, Beck-sama?” Watanabe turned. “My brother said he wanted to talk to you for a second, if that’s alright?”

She blinked. “Uh, sure.” She walked forward, looking at the computer screen. “Which one?”

“This one.” It was the one whose voice sounded a bit like he’d shredded his throat with a cheese grater. “Just wanted to say thank you. For looking after my brother.”

“Just doing my job. But you’re welcome.”

He smiled. The Watanabes went back to each other. And Gretel sat back down.

“Thank you for looking after my brother.” If only he knew.

She studied the younger sister’s face. Black hair, brown eyes, plain gray dress… And she was a good sister. They couldn’t have been more different in that respect. Gretel slowly got to her feet and walked out of the room. She was fairly certain Watanabe - or the Watanabes, for that matter - didn’t notice. She sighed, and leaned against the wall.

In spite of everything, they looked happy. Relieved. Just to see or hear each other. How long had she turned her back on the only remnant of her family, just because of some silly crystals?

She didn’t know how long she stood there. Long enough, apparently, for her CI to notice. “Beck-sama?”

She turned. He stood at the entrance of the hall. “You can go back to your call.”

“Oh, that’s over, the kids had to go to school. Time difference, you know?” He put his hand in his pockets. “Are… are you okay?”

“It’s none of your concern.”

“Okay… but you’re not really supposed to leave me alone for a video call, are you?”

“Don’t tell anyone.”

And, well, he wasn’t going to walk away from the screen.

Chapter 14

Gretel didn’t sleep that night. She couldn’t sleep. And she couldn’t call her brother either - even her insomnia was because of him. So she paced around the kitchen. And tried to stop thinking about… it.

“Beck-Sama?”

“Son of a bitch!” She jumped. “Watanabe. What are you doing-”

“Shouldn’t you be the one surprising me?”

That was a point. “What are you doing up?” May as well focus on that.

“Uh, can’t sleep, but thankfully it isn’t a nightmare thing.” He tapped his eyes. “Turns out being blind messes with your body’s sense of night and day. I looked it up.” He held up a dark phone.

“Oh.”

“And you?”

Gretel said nothing.

Watanabe nodded. “Is this about your brother?”

“What else?”

“If it makes you feel any better…” He trailed off. “I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was going to say.”

“Gee, thanks.” She snorted. “Yeah, I’m a shitty sister. I know that.”

“It doesn’t seem like he’s mad at you.”

“He’s not. That almost makes it worse. You know, he still tries to downplay what happened… The only details I really know are from the video I saw. He won’t talk about it with me.”

“Hm…” Watanabe frowned in thought. “You know? I can’t speak for him, but I am an older brother. Do you mind if I share something with you?”

Gretel nodded. “May as well.”

“I thought for sure my family was never going to want to speak to me again.”

Gretel blinked. “Wait, really? I thought you wanted to speak with them-”

“I did! That’s not it. I can’t thank you enough for setting that up. It’s just…” Watanabe scratched at his face. “I did a lot, you know? I figured when they learned about everything, they weren’t going to want to admit they had an older brother. After a certain point, it wasn’t really about keeping my family together. Just them being alive, having a good future, was enough for me.” A shrug. “Seems to me you have that. You studied hard, you got your dream job, and you work hard doing something you love. If my siblings ended up half as good as you did, then everything would have been worth it.”

“Your experiences aren’t universal.”

“No, they’re not, but I’ve met your brother. I know we don’t really get along, but I can tell he loves you. A lot,” he added. “Did you ever ask him about… well, any of this?”

“He’d just lie to me,” Gretel said.

“Think he’d lie to me?”

She started. “What are you suggesting?”

“If you’re worried,” he said carefully, “then let me talk to him.”

“He hates you-”

“Exactly. So he’s got no reason to spare my feelings. If you really want to hear the truth, then let me be his punching bag, and you’ll get the truth from me.”

Gretel looked at the blinds covering the window, then back at her… prisoner? Employee? She nodded. “Be gentle with him.”

~

Hansel sat on his sister’s couch, feet propped up on the coffee table, Gingersnap safe - keeping him safe - in his lap. That Watanabe guy stood on the opposite side of the room, hand on the door. Maybe he’d do them both a favor and bolt.

“… Hey.” Evidently not. “So… you’re here.”

“What do you want?”

“I wanted to apologize. For what I said. To you,” the man coughed. “You… you aren’t a bad brother. Actually, you’re better than I am.”

“It’s not hard.”

He expected anger, but the blind man only shrugged. “Yeah, fair point. Still. And…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “… I’m sorry if I brought up any bad memories.”

“Oh, you’re sorry? Well, that makes it all better, doesn’t it?”

“I don’t expect it to. I just wanted to apologize… and, maybe, ask you something.”

“I’m not in the mood.”

“It’s about Beck-sama.”

“I swear to god, if you have the hots for Gretel-”

“What?! I don’t-”

“If you lay a hand on my sister, I… I’ll-”

“Do you hate her?”

“What?!” Hansel almost shot up to hit the man. “No! Of course I don’t! She’s my sister! Why would you think that?!”

“I don’t. But she seems convinced you should.”

Hansel sagged. “What did she tell you?”

“She filled in the blanks of what things were like between you two. I already knew what happened.”

“Fuck, you really did see those videos, didn’t you?”

“If it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t while I was working for them. It was after, um… Did you read my letter on DOLLARS?”

“Dollars?”

“It’s a Japanese website, kind of like- You write in for advice about-” His voice cracked. “A-anyway… The thing about filling a building with mentally unstable kids and treating them like shit is that they learn from it. And when they took control of the place…”

“Gretel told me about your eyes.”

“That wasn’t the worst thing they did.”

“… So… what was?” Hansel was going to regret asking. He could feel it.

Watanabe had only ever wore hoodies or long sleeves. It hadn’t hit Hansel that there might be a reason for it until the sleeve on his right arm was rolled up. “Holy shi- are those tally marks?!”

“One for every time they filmed me. Did that for most of us - this kid said he kept track, so we might as well, too.” The man touched his arm lightly. “And when I said they made me choose… with your videos, I mean… they made me choose what I went through.”

Hansel gagged. “What… So you… Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“Please tell me you didn’t pick the snakes.”

“I…”

“Oh God…” Hansel could feel himself going green. “Wh-what kind were they? Rattlesnakes? I got so, so sick after-”

“The truth is, I couldn’t choose.”

“What?”

“I couldn’t stop crying, so they… did everything. Until I passed out, anyway.”

“Fuck…” Hansel muttered. “I am so, so sorry…”

“Don’t be. I kinda deserve it.”

Hansel blinked. “Really?”

“Hey, you said so yourself. Baby rapist.” Junichi shrugged. “Well, technically rapist. They, um, have this ‘initiation’ thing… and well, it was either that or risk getting my siblings hurt. If it makes you feel any better the guy made me eat some really nasty stuff.”

“How the fuck are you okay with that?”

“Tit for tat. Eye for a… well. Literally, in my case,” he muttered.

“I don’t really believe in stuff like that.”

“But I thought-”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re not my favorite person, but… I dunno. I guess I wouldn’t have blamed them for killing you. Everything else seems overboard. I’m… not sure I would have taken another kid to save my sister, but I might have done something else…” He laughed mirthlessly. “And then she’d never have forgiven me.”

“Never say never. Mine did, for some reason.” He rubbed his hands. “Besides, not like anything I did worked out, so…”

It was quiet for a time.

“You know,” he said. “Gretel told me you wanted to be an agent?”

“… Yeah.”

“Can you keep a secret?”

Hansel shrugged, then realized the man wouldn’t have seen him. “Sure, go ahead.”

“I wanted to be a prosecution attorney.”

“You?”

“Uh, yeah. Before I became a… yeah. Funny, right?”

“Heh. I guess we’re both failures.”

Watanabe held his hand out cautiously. “Truce?”

“Truce. I guess.” And they shook. But that was all it was. Nothing more.

Chapter 15

“Hey, Watanabe!”

Junichi jumped. “Sheesh, knock sometime!” He backed away as usual. “Where’s the thing?”

“I left Gingersnap at home. Actually!” Hansel snapped. “That’s what I came to talk to you about.”

“… You… came to talk to me?”

“Yeah! I have an offer for you.”

“What kind of-”

“I got you a pig.”

He would have stared ahead blankly, if his eyes could do anything but. “Sorry, I don’t think I heard you right.”

Hansel took a step forward, taking one of Junichi’s hands, wrapping a cord around it. “His name is Nosy. You’re welcome.”

“What?”

“I bought him from Mr. Jookiba.”

“Who the hell is that?!”

“Friend of mine.”

“Why did you get me a pig?!”

“Because you don’t like dogs.”

“Okay, how is it every answer you give me only raises more questions?” Junichi sighed. “Okay, okay, you know what? Why don’t you just… explain… and I’ll ask questions as needed.”

Hansel cleared his throat. “So, you’re blind.”

“Yes. I… knew that,” he said in a daze.

“And normally blind people get dogs,” Hansel said. “But you don’t like dogs. So you needed something else.”

“I have a cane.”

“Something you can actually use. Gretel’s complained about how often you swear when you bump into things.”

“All I say is etatata. That just means ‘ow’.”

“Sure it does. Anyway, I looked it up. There are other animals blind people can have. A pony won’t fit in the loft, and monkeys are illegal in California. So, I got you a pig. And his name is Nosy.”

Okay. This was happening.

“What does he eat?”

“Everything. But no sugar or meat if you want him to stay little.”

“Can I change his name?”

“Hey, it’s your body.”

“It’s a pig.”

“Your pig, who will now be your eyes. So he’s practically your body.”

“I’m naming him Hansel-kun.”

“For me?” Hansel held a hand over his heart, though he knew Watanabe couldn’t see it. “That is so sweet. Thank you.”

“I’m sure he’ll remind me of you.” A pause. “You made sure Beck-sama was okay with a pig, right?”

“… Of course… I did… because I would never buy anything that would live in my sister’s house… without her permission…”

Junichi turned his head. “Beck-sama! Your brother got me a pig!”

“Gretelll, your criminal informant is being ungrateful!”

Chapter 16

“Three adults, and we’ll need a visual impairment aid,” Gretel said at the entrance.

Hansel glanced over at Junichi. “So, why is he here?”

“Part of being a criminal informant is not being left alone to do criminal activities,” Gretel said.

Junichi, wearing sunglasses, somehow conveyed that he was rolling his eyes. “Your sister couldn’t get a babysitter for me.”

“It’s probably better this way,” Gretel added. “At least they won’t think we’re on a date again.”

“Why don’t you invite Cindy to anything?” Hansel whined.

“Because the last time Cindy came over you stole her keys.”

“Come on, sis, that was weeks ago!”

“She had to spend the night with me because she couldn’t get home.”

“Yeah, and I couldn’t sleep as a result,” Junichi muttered.

“What are you saying?”

“Your sister’s loud.”

Hansel snickered. Beck glared.

“What did you get tickets for anyway?” Junichi asked. “Beck-sama said you were in charge this time.”

“LOVE DUCKS!”

“Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Hey, it’s our movie day - you’re just the tagalong!”

He prodded Beck. “And you’re okay with this?”

“Of course,” she said. “Here. There are headphones attached to the radio, so you can listen to what’s happening on screen.”

“You know, I think I’ll be okay without these.”

“Oh, come on, don’t be such a-”

“AAAHHH!”

A screech came down the hall. Junichi frowned. “Is there a horror movie or something going on?”

“No, some girl with an eyepatch is freaking out.”

He didn’t have time to ask anything else. He was hit in the head with… something lighter than it could have been. Still not comfortable. Probably a child-sized shoe.

“Hey!” He was pushed back as Beck got in front of him. “Control your kid!”

“Sorry!” A voice that belonged to an older gentleman. “Lucy, what’s going on? We don’t throw shoes at people-”

“Grandpa! It’s him! That’s the null that took out my eye!”

… Oh no… “We need to go…” Junichi whispered.

“Watanabe? Are you okay?”

“I thought you said all those kids were from Ohio,” Hansel said.

“I said it happened in Ohio, I never…” He shuddered. “Come on, let’s just go. Please?”

There was the snap of Velcro. 409 was taking off her other shoe.

This time Gretel blocked it with her arm. “Point taken.” She tugged Junichi’s arm. “We’ll go home.”

“People are staring,” Hansel muttered.

Of course they were. “I’ll pay you back for the tickets twice over,” Junichi promised. “We just need to go.” He tugged at Hansel-kun’s harness. They started to move, but then the pig stopped. Junichi groaned. “Come on, move forward-”

“What’s this my granddaughter said about her eye?” The same voice. Now in front instead of behind.

“Oh hey, it’s my dentist!” Was Hansel… waving? “Hiiii, Dr. Wonka!”

“Is he insane?”

Beck’s finger’s dug into Junichi’s shoulder. “Misdirection,” she mumbled. “That’s our cue to leave.”

Evidently Dr. Wonka wasn’t very good at being distracted. He was much better at standing in front of doors. Beck pushed Junichi behind her because she was a special agent. Hansel-kun grunted because he was a pig.

“Can I speak to your friend?” Dr. Wonka jerked his head. “Outside? In private?”

Beck pulled out her badge. “He’s an informant, he needs an agent with him for supervision.”

“Then with you and him in private. I need to have a word.”

Junichi placed a hand on Beck’s shoulder. “He’s got a right. If he wants to talk, I’m willing to listen.”

Beck made an unconvinced noise.

“It’s either that or we continue to stand with him blocking the only entrance.”

“I can stay here as long as we need.”

“Hansel, can you- Hansel?”

“Lucy, huh? I’m Hansel… and I like your sweater. Think they make any in my size?”

“Leave my granddaughter alone!”

“It’s okay, Grandpa.”

Dr. Wonka sighed. “He can come too then.”

Soon enough all six of them were outside. Junichi was reasonably certain the apparent dentist had a small, terrified child behind him. It was quiet for quite some time.

“So. Is it true?”

Junichi sighed. “Yeah. That was me.”

“You’re dead, Blind Man!” There was a little “nyeh” noise as 409 stuck out her tongue.

“Lucy! No one is dying tonight.” Dr. Wonka patted his granddaughter’s head. “However much I may wish I could kill him… No, I just need to know. Why?”

Junichi kicked at the ground. “It was an accident. I don’t know if that helps.”

“It really doesn’t.”

“It wasn’t an accident!” 409 said. “53891 told me!”

“Lucy.” It sounded like Dr. Wonka was kneeling now. “We’ve talked about 538- your friends, right?”

“It wasn’t an accident when they touched me!”

“That doesn't mean nothing is an accident,” Dr. Wonka explained.

“But he swung it at me!”

“I was waking up from a nightmare,” Junichi spoke up. “I thought you were someone else… Not that it helps, I know, but…” He tried to point his face where he thought Dr. Wonka was. “Does she have medical bills? I can pay for them. Maybe a prosthesis? Like a fake eye if she doesn’t want the patch?”

“Don’t listen to the null, Grandpa! He’s trying to trick you!”

Hansel’s voice: “What the heck is a null?”

“No numbers!” 409’s voice broke. “No numbers!”

“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Wonka said tightly. “Why don’t we go h-”

“I don’t wanna go home! He should go home! Why isn’t he in jail?!” That last part was probably directed at Beck.

“He’s my… Well, uh, he’s my CI,” his handler said. “You know what that means, right?”

“No. Fuck you, I’m eight.”

“It stands for Criminal Informant. It means-”

“I’m a snitch,” Junichi spoke up. “And I can stay out of jail as long as I keep being a snitch.”

409 was quiet for a moment. “So you get to stay out of jail just because you tattled on the other nulls?”

“Pretty much.”

“That’s dumb.”

“He’s helping us clean up other Ark locations… Er, other places like the one that had you.”

409 stomped her feet. “My old house was awesome.”

“Lucy-”

“What? It’s true! I’m not allowed to see my friends anymore! Or… or… 2005! And I’ve gotta eat vegetables… and-”

Junichi flinched. “2005?”

“… My son, her father. He’s… in a hospital…”

“That fucking psychopath is your son?!” Junichi suddenly backed away, and Hansel-kun squealed. “What the actual hell?!”

“Don’t call my son a- Wait, you knew him?”

“He made the null eat my eyeball.” 409 sounded much too proud of that fact. For the first time since he’d known her, Junichi heard Beck gag.

“He’s insane!” His whole body shook. “E-even before, he was always… We left him alone overnight once and he ate the kid chained up with him!”

“Don’t talk about 2005 like that!” 409 yelled. “Charlie was already dead!”

“That does not make it better!”

“It’s better than what you would have done to him!”

His hand tightened on Hansel-Kun’s lead. “You don’t know that-”

“You made us eat the rest of him!”

“Th-that wasn’t my idea…” Junichi stammered. “And… and you should have seen him! He liked hurting people!”

“Gosh, I wonder where he picked that up,” Dr. Wonka sounded angrier than 409 now.

“You, of all people, should know what… what I’m… You should understand.”

“My son wasn’t like that until your people got hold of him. When I last saw him he was a normal child.”

Junichi’s mouth suddenly went dry.

They left shortly after that, the man’s words still ringing in his ears.

… A normal child…

Chapter 17

Summary:

Thank you, Anon!

“Soooo, why am I here?”

“Because my other Palace friends are either busy or were not considered for various reasons, Lah is currently on a date, Moony isn’t fond of kids other than Nova, Phin is doing his motivational speech class, and I really don’t think I should be alone when meeting her.”

“Fair enough.” The hospital’s front door opened and the Cheat and Ena checked the signs and headed for the elevators. Calisota City General was large and usually busy; it would take a while to get where they were going. There had been no question of not going.

“Besides, I know how… protective you can be with children. Especially since-”

“Oookay, we can get Inspector, the cops, the CPS members, or whoever the fuck can deal with this searching up any means of making sure these monsters get into actual legal trouble, in case their confession of leaving a bunch of underage kids alone with no supervision because they care more about a blob of cells than their actual damn children isn’t enough to help these kids out. I also got a number that can help in case you guys don’t want to wait for either a miscarriage or for someone to get a coat hanger to deal with this since Planned Parenthood isn’t an option as long as they’re with those fuckers.”

“Firebird mentioned you can deal with it by punching,” the Rooster suggested cheerfully.

“Unless it’s in self-defense you just don’t punch kids, man. And maybe we need to explain the baby-making stuff better…”

“Yeah, to be honest, I’d have visited a lot sooner, but…” They didn’t finish their sentence. In the elevator, they watched the numbers start ticking down before mumbling, “My mom’s a prostitute too.”

“Mm?”

“She taught me everything I know, did everything she could to raise me well before we got separated when I was nine. We still keep in touch despite her being elsewhere. She was only disappointed when I came out as enby because I hadn’t told her sooner. I fucking hate people who treat people like her as disposable. I’d do anything to make sure she stays safe from people that could hurt her.” The Cheat paused, then continued, cracking their knuckles. “If that kid’s mother wasn’t already fucking dead, I’d kill her myself.”

Ena blinked, slightly shocked, but didn’t comment. Instead she simply said, “You probably shouldn’t let Ruby know that.”

“I know. It’s just-” They groaned in frustration, “I’m not as gifted as Eris or Superego or people like them when it comes to reading people. Fuck, I was taught to do so myself, rather than just simply be born with it. More like the Preacher, I guess. But I can get the gist of something right even if the math of it is wrong. I noticed she left the room and she’d been crying all the time. I should have noticed something was up. I should have been able to prevent this.”

Ena placed a hand on their shoulder. “Hey. People tend to not notice red flags unless it’s either too late or they were confronted with the truth in a way they can’t deny. Even if it is obvious. I know from experience.”

“Yeah… You know, I’m genuinely surprised you’re calm about all this.”

“I already freaked out when I was told about what happened. Phin was worried I would overdose on my medication again.”

The Cheat raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, I thought taking extra pills for the days I’d missed would help make up for it. Luckily this was before I was upgraded from 10mg to 20mg and it was only two, so nothing really happened.”

“Huh. Good.”

They walked in silence for a minute before Ena decided to break it again. “I thought your mom was a con artist.”

“She’s both. You know, kind of like Bubs with his corner store and nightclub.” And his other side business they’d refrain from mentioning. Ena nodded.

At last they arrived at the suicide watch ward. In most hospitals of this size outside Calisota, Ruby would have been moved to the childrens’ psych ward immediately, but here she might have to wait another day or two for a space to open up. They really were busy. Ena gently opened the double door while the Cheat just breathed deep and prepared themself.

The ward had several small bare rooms with no doors, the doorways offset from the bed to provide a tiny amount of privacy while allowing nurses to see in. In several of the rooms people shouted drunkenly or babbled nonsense, but the one containing the patient they’d come to see was silent.

There was the Costume Jewel (Ruby; none of them were at the Palace now). She was on a bed with no blanket, in a dark grey hospital gown. She was simply hugging her knees with a sad expression. She looked… hollow. Small. At least she’d been allowed to keep a slightly creepy-looking clown doll - more than the adults got.

The Cheat would have wondered how the fuck her mother got away with passing her off as much older than ten if they hadn’t known who else landed her there. Besides, people assumed they were younger then they actually were.

“Hey…” Ena gave her a reassuring smile. Ruby quickly glanced up, but otherwise didn’t acknowledge the pair. The Cheat hovered in the doorway while Ena carefully approached the fragile, pale girl. Ena focused, thinking through her words before settling on, “How are you doing?”

At least she didn’t ask a stupid question like “are you okay”? The Cheat sat down on the end of the bed while the both of them waited for the kid to answer.

Ruby coughed. “I’m… better than I was. I kind of felt bad for making people worry.”

Firebert felt their blood run cold the moment the Fair Sister mentioned the bathroom door was stuck. They felt like a deer in the headlights when the door broke down and revealed one of the worst sights they had ever seen. They were numb to the chaos that happened (they heard a scream close by - was it them?) as they blocked out all but the sight of the Costume Jewel and the suicide note she left on the wall.

Ena looked at her with a heartbroken expression. “I’m sorry you were made to think that was your only way out.”

The small redhead looked down, looking like she was about to cry. The Cheat grabbed Ena’s hands and mouthed to her “deep breaths”. She nodded, and did so.

“I’m glad you’re still alive, kid,” was all that they said.

Ruby was quiet. Then again, so were both her guests (a much rarer condition for Ena than the Cheat). Eventually, they spoke up again. “Have you been getting many visitors?”

“Mainly Mr. Poe and the other foster kids, the Rosey and Fair Sisters, Six of Shades and her siblings. The Addamses and the Munsters, other kids from the block…” She trailed off, then added, “A lotta people would miss me, huh?”

Ena wiped her eyes. “I don’t think people will think badly of you for… for what you tried to do. You aren’t the only one who’s attempted, even just at the Palace.”

“But I’m probably the only kid that did.”

“Well, there’s Cotton Tail,” the Cheat said. “He’s even younger than you.”

“And Emmeline.” Ena wore a serious expression rarely seen on her (well, besides by Moony anyway). “You probably met her before.”

“Yeah, I think she’s one of Von Gier’s adopted kids. The little one with the cute little dog that wears that bat-wing harness and horned headband? She’s really nice. She and the rest of them came to visit the other day.”

“I overheard from Von Gier’s assistant that they met her when they almost crashed into her while she and her dog were in the middle of the road.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t an accident?”

“It was night, and neither of them moved out of the way. She looked like she was waiting for a car.”

Ruby put a hand over her mouth in horror, while the Cheat stared for a moment before asking the question haunting their mind. “How old was she?”

Ena was hesitant, but eventually answered. “Three.”

An awkward silence hung over the room. Ena smiled in a very gentle manner.

“Not sure how helpful or reassuring this is, considering how much you went through, but I’ve struggled with thoughts like these myself. I didn’t really act on them, so I never really brought it up with my therapist or anyone else.”

“You probably should-”

“We’ll discuss this later,” Ena said quickly, “What I mean to say is…” She placed a hand on the bed, making sure it was far enough away that she wouldn’t scare Ruby or bring back bad memories. “If you… had those thoughts again, I’d be willing to listen to you. And to make sure you…” She didn’t finish the sentence, trying to rub away tears spilling from her eyes.

“Hey, it’s okay. I don’t blame you for crying. It’s… natural.” The Cheat gave Ena a tissue. She took it. “Probablemente deberías salir y esforzarte por calmarte.”

Ena looked hesitant. “¿Estás segura de que puedes manejarla sola?”

“Si.”

“Bien entonces.” Ena cleared her throat. “I’m going to find a restroom, I’ll be back in a bit.” She gave her friends one last glance before leaving the room.

The Cheat and Ruby simply stared at each other for a moment before the Cheat started talking. “Your… your note mentioned the Palace being haunted, right?”

“What are you getting at?”

“The Rosey Sister got a nosebleed out of nowhere, which is why we found you as soon as we did. If your assumptions are correct, I think that means whoever’s haunting there wants to make sure you don’t join them.” They kept the “just yet” part of the comment silent. They hoped the poor kid didn’t fill it in anyway.

Ruby hugged her knees, still looking sad. “Maybe.”

“… Can I touch you?” Ruby was hesitant, but she gave a weak nod. The Cheat placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Kid, you went through hell. Hell you didn’t deserve. And dealing with this kind of shit… no fooling, it’s going to be hard. But it’s still doable. Please. Live, not for the sake of others, but yourself. Because you deserve so much more than the shitty hand you've been dealt.”

Ruby’s expression was still mostly sad, but now with a hint of hope to it. That was at least something. They removed their hand from her shoulder.

“I’ll come and visit you more often if you want me to.” They’d visit her every day she was in the hospital if they could manage it. “Might bring some goodies and stuff. Probably boring around here with just not-great-tasting food.”

Ruby gave them a small smile. Ena eventually came back in, looking a lot calmer than when she left. She approached the bed again as the Cheat got up to give them space.

“Can I hug you?” Ena asked with pleading eyes.

Ruby gave a hesitant (though less hesitant than the one they gave the Cheat) nod. Carefully, with a bit of hesitance on her part, she went to hug the child. Slowly, the small girl returned it. She started to sob, and Ena let her.

The Cheat simply watched the pair, getting a bit misty-eyed themself. They kept quiet, making sure they didn't interrupt this moment.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 64 of WPaRG