Chapter Text
Kougami stared up at the ceiling unable to sleep. The chairs he was lying on were not making it any easier, but they were not the cause. That was sleeping in the bed a couple of meters away. He sighed softly. So close. He shut his eyes and focused his attention on the sounds coming from outside. The jungle surrounding them was never completely silent. He recognized some of the calls but not the animal or bird that made them. Maybe he should ask Sem to teach him. He sighed again. What was he thinking? In a few days she would be gone and then he would have the nights and the bed to himself. The bed she was sleeping in.
He heard her stir and leave the bed. He listened to her footsteps disappearing out into the open corridor, but there they stopped. So, not a bathroom break.
It was useless. Silently, he got up, groped for the packet of cigarettes she had given him and padded out to the corridor. She was standing looking out of one of the window arches, her back towards him. He leant against the wall nearest her and lit a cigarette. Why did he find her so unsettling now? It had been three years. Three years in which she had changed. Was it that she was fiercer and a much better fighter? She had almost taken him down – and that could only have come from hard experience. She moved with authority even here where she had none. But no, he sensed that there was something else. She still appeared to be the same impossibly eager and impossibly positive woman she had been in Tokyo, but there was something different about her now. She was no longer the woman he thought of when the book he was reading was not enough to keep the ghosts at bay. She was so much more. Had he changed as much? Probably. So why, when he had seen who had been following him, had he felt so elated?
“Can’t sleep, either?” she asked him without turning around.
“What’s on your mind, Tsunemori?”
“This,” and she nodded down at the camp. “You said I should come and see for myself what you were doing. So tell me, Mr Kougami, what are you trying to achieve here?"
"You've seen the conditions people live in around Shambala Float, right? Most are stuck in poverty. If they don't work today, they don't eat tomorrow. They live without any chance of a better future in dirty, overcrowded, disease-ridden slums. For decades they've been abused by a despotic elite. None of the people here wanted to be rebels, including Sem, Tsunemori." He studied her profile, hoping to get an idea of what she was thinking.
"And yet, here they are. Rebels," she murmured. "Do you really believe that they can do a better job of running SEAUn?"
"Depends on what you mean by better. If you mean something as sterile as current day Japan. No, probably not. There you might have low crime, but what is the human cost?" He noticed her shoulders tense.
"And your way? Sem's way? How would that be different?"
"Sem doesn't want power over the people. He wants to empower them by holding free elections. To have a proper government running things."
She turned to look at him. Her expression thoughtful, "An idealist, then. But I asked what you were trying to achieve, Mr Kougami."
He realized she was testing him. He had no idea what she was looking for or why his motivations would matter to the Sibyl System. Unless, she was not asking as part of her investigation, but that made even less sense. "After Makishima, once I was out of Japan, all I wanted was to find somewhere quiet. At first, I just found chaos and anarchy. Then, when I did find it, I couldn't settle. So maybe this is all I'm good for. I know how the police and military think and act, these people don't. I believe that I can help them. I can at least advise them."
She did not move. "That man we met earlier, that was Sem? He asked me if you had provided me with guidance as well. Which leads me to believe that you are more than a mere strategic advisor, but also a kind of spiritual mentor.”
Kougami shifted his weight, “To be honest, I wish they wouldn’t. It isn’t me. But despite that, it seems the people here are overly influenced by everything I say and do.”
“It may not be intentional on your part, but you do have a sort of irresistible magnetism that draws people in,” her voice was neutral. “Similar to what Shogo Makishima had.”
“So, what, you see me as the same as him?” If she heard the note of hurt in his voice, she did not show it. “Or is this coming from Saiga? The last time I saw him, the professor asked me if I thought I was like Makishima.”
“Well, is it so surprising that you and Makishima are alike in some ways? You understood Makishima better than anyone else. I don’t think it was just the three years you’d been investigating him. And, no, the Professor didn’t say anything. Or at least, not until a few days ago when I asked him after I’d seen the photo evidence we have on you.”
“At least I never led anyone astray. So why is it different now?”
Akane turned to face him, “Because your situation is different. I don’t know if you realize it or not, but the position you are in is a lot like how Makishima started out.”
“Are you saying I’m destined to end up like Makishima?” he asked hoarsely.
She looked over at him, her eyes sad. “No, no, but … I think there will be more and more people who will want you to … to embody the same traits. There will always be those who harbor anger and resentment towards society, and they will expect something from you and trust you to lead them. You have such an ability to draw people in that they might put you on the same pedestal that Makishima was on.”
Kougami grimaced, “That would be annoying.”
She smiled slightly, “And that is one of the most important differences between the two of you. You have no desire for any of this.”
He threw the end of his cigarette on the floor and stepped on it. In one respect she was the same; she still had that ability to see right into him.
“There is another difference between the two of you,” she continued, turning back to look out the window. “You truly believe that there is a better way for people to find happiness. Or …. maybe not so much happiness but a life that they can call their own because they have control over it. The talents and traits you have in common with Makishima do not make you him.”
“So, what are you saying?”
“I’m saying watch your step, Mr Kougami. Be careful of being pulled into a situation that will swallow you up.”
He lit another cigarette, “Hmmmm …. sounds like you’re not planning on arresting me just yet.”
“That might be a little difficult right now, considering that the route back to Shambala has been blocked. But I found you once, I can find you again,” her voice was a little warmer.
“I’ll hold you to that, Inspector,” he spoke without thinking. Stupid! What was he thinking? He rebuked himself as a flush bloomed on her cheek.