“You can tell it like it is. I know what he’s like. If you need any help, just ask.” Shimizu smiled ever so slightly as he turned his cinnamon roll around, seemingly in search of the best attack angle. Once he found it, he bit off a piece and licked the sugar off of his fingers. “Has he said anything about me? Greatly exaggerated, I’m sure.”
“Not really, but that’s not why I’m here. I was wondering… Well, uh, you wouldn’t happen to know if he’s got himself mixed up in something shady?”
It had probably been a waste to use Harumine’s limited contacts to get this interview when Shimizu’s sentence made it highly improbable he’d had anything to do with it, but if the man had any dirt on Kagesawa, he might want to get that off his chest.
“Hmm, well, he’s definitely mixed up in something. I don’t know how well the two of you are linked, but if you’ve known him for more than a week, it’s probably obvious.” Shimizu winked and added some more creamer into his coffee.
“Anything in particular coming to mind?”
“I’d advise you to take it up with him, but…”
“But?”
“I don’t want to be saying things behind his back, but…” He leaned over to Harumine and lowered his voice. “He does tend to lie a lot. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s cooked up a sob story for you to throw you off his scent. He’s really good at it too. Got mefooled almost right up until the end, and look what happened to me. You’d better be careful with him.”
Shimizu seemed to still be enjoying his coffee and cinnamon roll but looked a little more serious for a moment. Then he resumed his benign smile and turned back to Harumine. “That’s all thankfully in the past now. He made sure I’ll never work as an empath again, but I can’t keep feeling sorry for myself forever. I’m still alive, aren’t I? The same can’t be said for his first link, and there’s no telling what happened to the third. I suppose they could have been careless accidents with how he is, but…” Shimizu shrugged. “I’m surprised he’s not under an investigation already. Was that all you wanted to ask me?”
“I guess.”
“He hasn’t done anything to you, has he?” Shimizu seemed genuinely concerned.
“No.”
“Ahh, good. Who knows, maybe I’m wrong and he has mended his ways. I sure hope so. You seem like a nice lad.” He wiped his hands on a napkin and finished his coffee. “Well, I’d better be going. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help to you. I tried not to get involved in his less than reputable dealings. As friendly advice, I’d suggest you do the same and keep a distance. They’re bound to catch him eventually, and I’d hate to see you be dragged down with him.”
“Thank you for your concern. I’ll keep that in mind.” Harumine tried his utmost to analyse each word, expression and gesture for any sign of dishonesty, but if it was there, it was indiscernible. Either he was telling the truth or frighteningly good at deceit.
Since it was already Sunday afternoon, and Takazaki was the closest thing to a friend, Harumine rang his doorbell again. Theman let him in, offered him a cup of tea and a seat at his table to try to figure out what to do next.
“He’s not here, so I guess I’ll have to do something about work tomorrow. I’m useless there without him. I also need to report him missing, don’t I?” That would make it official. If there had been signs of struggle, or the link hadn’t been dampened and there was any indication of danger, Harumine would have done so long since. “It’s selfish of me, but I’m worried about how this will look. I helped him with something before he left, and I don’t even know what it was for or if it had something to do with whatever trouble he’s in. And I taught him to dampen properly. I’ve effectively obstructed a possible investigation. That may not be enough to prosecute me, but it’s certainly not going to look good on my record.”
“You’re sure he didn’t seem emotionally unstable the last you saw him?” Takazaki seemed to be clinging onto the mental breakdown angle.
“He was fine. He was in a good mood.” But if he really was guilty of a crime, there was always the chance that the mention of a review had scared him off.
“What did he take with him?”
“I’m not sure. I didn’t notice that many things missing.” If Kagesawa had meant to leave for good, he’d had plenty of time to pack a proper bag for it. While Harumine hadn’t memorised all of Kagesawa’s possessions, he was confident he would have noticed that many everyday items no longer where they were supposed to be.
“Clothes, keys…?”
“Yeah, his coat, the port extension and keys are gone.” The port extension wasn’t the sort of thing one would leave in the port for no reason, because no matter how ergonomic it was supposed to be, it would always eventually become uncomfortable. Why would he take that with him unless he wasspecifically anticipating a need for it? All it was good for was to connect to a BCI.
“And there’s been no response from him all this time?”
“I’ve been trying to project to him, but nothing.” It was starting to feel eerie with the link dampened so well for such a long time. It was especially disconcerting during the night, since dampening required at least some active effort to maintain it. Wherever Kagesawa was, wasn’t he ever going to sleep at all?
Chapter 13
Kagesawa had managed to somehow limp in and out of the lift and through the corridor without dripping blood anywhere or bumping into anyone. He had a nasty-looking cut on his forearm from when they’d caught him in the server room. It bled more than a paper cut and maybe needed some stitches, but he wasn’t about to bleed to death.
Besides the cut, he was a little scuffed and bruised from taking a tumble on his way out, but at least he was out, and he’d fixed the problem he’d meant to fix. All he needed now was somethingto numb the pain to help him sleep. He’d worry about the rest of it later.
The apartment was empty. He didn’t dare to stop dampening to check where Satoru was.
It wasn’t polite to spring an injury on someone without a heads up, but, truth be told, Kagesawa was more concerned about having to face the repercussions of keeping Satoru out of it. He was at the brink of his limit of how long he could continuously dampen, but he figured he would stretch it as far as it went, be cowardly for a moment and enjoy the last calm before the storm.
It was a short respite. Mere minutes after his arrival, Kagesawa heard the front door open and close. He took a deep breath. Right. Time to deal with this so he could get some much needed sleep.