Chapter Text
He was only supposed to go pick up Kokonoe’s report at Sector Seven, but Jin didn’t return to his office until evening.
The sound of his boots against the concrete of the NOL courtyard echoed back at him as he walked towards the entrance. Not many people were still around at that time, so it was mostly quiet.
He had been away for most of the day without what could be considered a valid excuse, yet he knew no one would question his absence. No one… perhaps except Kagura. Tsubaki would too, but Jin knew it was unlikely for her to be in the building at that particular time. When was the last time he allowed himself to sit down and have a proper conversation with her?
Perhaps a little guilt would have been appropriate, for the one who seemed to put distance between them was himself. Time after time. For reasons he couldn’t quite explain.
The blond encountered a few officers on his way to the elevator, but none of them did much more than offer a polite nod of acknowledgement when they passed by him. Soft chatter and distant footsteps were all that reached his ears, until the elevator doors closed behind him.
A soft chime announced he had reached the floor where his office was located. Jin stepped out into the hall and made way to the very familiar tall, wooden door of his office. It was quite evident he hadn’t been there today… paperwork had piled up on top of his desk, waiting to be tended to. No matter how many ranks be climbed, that always seemed to remain the same. Because the organization itself seemed to remain the same too, despite the pass of time, despite their new leader, despite the new world order.
But with just how much certainty could he claim it to be ‘the same’? The same as what? The same as… when?
Jin approached his desk and set down the sealed envelope he had been carrying. Kokonoe’s report. It was merely part of formality, and given that he had already spoken to her that day, he doubted there would be any new information on the document, but revising and signing it was protocol so it could be archived along with the rest of past reports on Azrael.
Just as he was readying himself for the task, he heard a few knocks on the door. He turned around to find Kagura entering the room.
“You’re back. Any news from Kokonoe?”
“She says everything is still under control. No signs of any sort of disturbance.” Not even the slightest change had been observed in the completely frozen room where the monster had been kept for the past years.
“The usual, then. Good to hear… but it took you a while to come back, huh?” it wasn’t a call-out, but merely a comment.
“I wanted to hear her opinion on some things.” Jin explained, albeit vaguely.
“Yeah? How did that go? She’s usually uncooperative unless it’s in her personal interest...” Kagura asked then.
“She was. But I wanted to try. I thought she’d know what I meant…” he trailed off and glanced at Kagura briefly before moving to sit down behind his desk.
The black haired man knew there was something Jin wasn’t quite willing to explain, most likely linked to his recent episodes of troubled mind states. It was nothing new, yet it intrigued him that Jin would turn to Kokonoe for answers. Was the blond finally getting overwhelmed by the voids in his memory? More than two years had gone by and Kagura remained unable to do much to help him. Asking questions was starting to feel like a pointless effort. For a while, his approach to the issue was merely to let Jin be… despite how frustrating it may be for Kagura himself. He did what he could. He tried, he really did.
“Hey, no. Don’t sit down.” the black haired man approached Jin and rested a hand upon Jin’s shoulder. “You can take care of that tomorrow. Let’s go have dinner.”
[...]
The lights at the restaurant were slightly dimmed, offering a bit of a romantic atmosphere complimented by the warm color palette used in the overall decoration. Smooth jazz music played on the speakers at just the right volume, and the table assigned to them provided enough privacy, much to Jin’s gratitude.
No one could accuse Kagura of not trying to be romantic, because over the last couple years he had more than surprised Jin with really nice date nights that even the blond had come to appreciate.
Jin ordered from the vegetarian menu while Kagura picked a meal from the regular one. At some point when they recently got engaged the Black Gale had attempted to try vegetarian dishes whenever he and Jin went out for dinner, but soon had to admit it wasn’t for him. Jin never minded it, but Kagura had thought it would look good if he tried.
“The Emperor asked to speak with me today.” Kagura brought up after finishing his first glass of wine.
Jin looked at him, not as surprised as Kagura would have expected. “Is there an issue?”
The black haired man straightened up in his seat. “No, no.” He shook his head slowly. “Emperor Homura wanted to address… well, us. You and me.”
The blond didn’t speak, but kept his attention on the other, listening closely. His engagement to Kagura had been highly encouraged by the Emperor, who saw the union as a contributing element that would help keep the Duodecim and NOL together. Despite the fact that it was true they had been seeing each other by their own free will, it wouldn’t be wrong to say the engagement had been, in some measure, arranged.
“You know, there was talk of how it’s been a year since we got engaged and how positive the impact was for the public eye…”
And it was true. The Emperor, albeit surrounded in some degree of perpetual mystery, harbored a deep interest in maintaining order and peace. There was a careful management of how the NOL exerted power, and one important mean for that was the public image of its officials. High rates of approval were a priority… lest they would want another civil conflict in their report card. Which of course they didn’t.
“We didn’t do it for the people.” Jin said softly, his fingers absentmindedly reaching for his glass of wine. His expression was neutral still, merely contemplative of what Kagura was saying. He was fairly confident he knew where the conversation was going, but he did want to remark that despite it all, what had built their relationship was of their own doing.
“I know, we didn’t.” There was truth in the idea of the engagement to have been influenced by the Emperor, but the mutual interest was still very much their own. “But I think you know what I mean.”
“I do.” Jin gave a nod of his head. Perhaps they hadn’t in the beginning, but later on he had agreed to make their relationship public, agreed to listen to Homura’s guidance and requests, agreed to get involved in the execution of the Emperor’s intent, blurring the lines between his personal life and his duty as a high official of the organization . There was no denying that. Perhaps he was merely reluctant to admit that he knew the underlying implications of that. No, the truth was he had known them perfectly from the start. Perhaps he, too, wanted to ensure lasting order and peace.
If asked about it, Kagura wouldn’t deny it either.
There wasn’t much more that had to be said for Jin to understand what was being suggested.
“What was the conclusion, then?”
Whose conclusion...
Tension must have rose to his posture because he suddenly felt the warmth of Kagura’s hand over his own.
“JinJin, can we talk dates?”
[...]
Static noise. Glitches. Lost and corrupted files.
Kokonoe’s brow twitched as she held back the urge to slam her fist down against her desk.
“That Jin Kisaragi…” she practically hissed. Was he trying to mock her?
Yet she already knew it was nothing like that. There was no way the man would have known about the multiple errors in her records. No logical incentive or reason to manipulate or damage them.
But what was this, then?
After a while of attempting to get back to her scheduled activities, the scientist had no choice but to acknowledge the lingering thought on the back of her mind regarding the day of Azrael’s defeat.
Just like Jin had pointed out, what actually happened that day could hardly be what recent history books told. Exactly why were questions arising in Jin’s mind about it right now, Kokonoe couldn’t quite tell… she couldn’t remember a time when the blond wasn’t at odds with his own memories, yet it was unlike him to exteriorize his questions in such a way and to her of all people.
Perhaps it was for that reason that she indeed ended up referring to her archives and records on the event. February 2200. That one day at the Colosseum…
A lot of the data was completely useless. Written reports, the recorded feed from Tager’s transmissor, archived media… mostly damaged, and whatever seemed to remain functional gave little to no significant details. If anything, it only served to confirm the story she had been led to question.
Kokonoe reached for a brand new lollipop and put it in her mouth. From a logical standpoint, attempting to repair the information seemed like a waste of time and energy. Despite the potentially suspicious loss of those records, she couldn’t find any urgency in going through the details on the event.
Her eyes traveled to the screen where a live feed of Azrael’s eternal ice prison was displayed. Completely undisturbed. She huffed to herself after quite a few seconds of staring, and turned back to her main screen to resume typing.