Chapter Text
“God, these shoes are killing me,” Saeko’s voice echoed throughout Survive.
“Heh, that reminds me, did I ever tell you about the time I had to go undercover in high heels?” Adachi asked, turning to Kashiwagi.
“No, you definitely didn’t,” he replied, shaking his head.
“It was back during the bubble. I was working with the Kamurocho P.D. for a couple years. We were investigating this one nightclub that some small Tojo family ran. There weren’t enough female officers for the raid and since I was still a rookie, I got stuck dressing up,” Adachi grinned.
“You. In a dress and high heels?” Kashiwagi asked, incredulous.
“Yeah. Well, a skirt and heels. They had me in this office lady kinda outfit with a matching jacket. Wasn’t easy running in those shoes.”
A lightbulb went off in Kashiwagi’s mind.
“Wait a minute. Let me guess, this was spring of ‘82… the club was called Aurora, on Pink street, north of Taihei.”
“Hey, I thought you said I hadn’t told you this story!”
“You didn’t. That suspect you tried to chase, did he happen to have a ponytail and a plum-coloured suit?”
“Wait, was that you?!”
“No, that was my sworn brother, Fukikoshi. He came running into the family office, all out of breath, and swore he’d been chased by some cop in drag. We all thought he was joking but I guess that must’ve been you. Huh.”
“Ain’t that something? Guess you and I came pretty close to meeting all those years ago,” Adachi mused. “Too bad, we coulda been dating all this time.”
“Ha,” Kashiwagi snorted. “I was a little punk who’d just joined up and you were a cop. I wouldn’t have given you the time of day back then.”
“True. Besides, I had a girlfriend at the time. Almost married her, actually.”
“It didn’t work out, I take it?”
“Nope. We were together for a couple years. I even proposed. She didn’t want to settle down with a detective, though.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Eh, don’t be. Probably best I didn’t have a wife and kids when my career crashed and burned,” Adachi sighed. “What about you? Guess a yakuza captain couldn’t exactly settle down with a husband, huh?”
“No,” he said softly. “Can’t say I didn’t dream of it sometimes, but there’s no room for romantics in that business.”
“I’m glad you’re retired, then,” Adachi smiled.
“Me too.”