Chapter Text
It had been an eventful afternoon in Inazuma City. It's not everyday that someone is arrested for trespassing into and creating a disturbance in Tenshukaku, and the arrest was the talk of the town. When Kujou Sara heard about the arrest, she felt it was her duty to go to the police station immediately to see if there was anything she could do to help. She didn't like the idea of someone being within Tenshukaku's walls without permission. "Someone must have been trying to hurt The Shogun," she thought to herself. That was at least until she learned Arataki Itto was the one arrested for the crime. Trying to sneak into Tenshukaku and harm The Shogun was not his style.
When she arrived at the police station at about mid afternoon, she arrived to learn from officers at the station Itto was still in a holding cell, and naturally had been taunting officers at the station and causing as much annoyance as possible. She opened the door to the office with the holding cells, and approached the officer at the desk. The officer stood to salute Sara. Sara returned the salute, greeted the officer, told him to be at ease, and asked what the Tenryou Commission believes is the reason Itto was trespassing into Tenshukaku. "Honestly, we're not sure Madame Kujou. We're putting together investigation personnel and resources to-" replied the officer as he sat back down at the desk, before being interrupted by Itto.
"I told you, I was trying to invite the Shogun to 'The Almighty-," Arataki shouted from his cell, before being interrupted.
"Be quiet." The officer shouted back.
"Officer, an investigative team will not be necessary. I would like to handle this case personally," Kujou Sara said, to the surprise of the officer at the desk, which was a fair response given the notorious relationship Itto and Sara had. Sara saw the perplexed expression on the officer's face, and continued, "As I'm sure you are aware, I am very familiar with the Arataki Itto, and the antics of he and his gang. As such, I feel I am most qualified to handle this particular matter. Please, collect all of the relevant information and give it to me."
"O-oh, of course Madame Kujou." replied the officer. As he gathered the relevant paperwork, Itto began to beg to him, "Aw come on. My man, you can't leave what happens to me up to the Tengu! She's going to try to lock me away for good!"
"Be quiet!" snarled Sara to Itto, with Itto making an offensive face in response. The officer handed a file with the relevant paperwork to Sara and asked if there was anything else he could do for her.
Sara thought for a moment and said, "Yes. I will be staying around the police station for the rest of today. Please find me when you leave for the day if Itto is still here. I will watch the desk tonight."
The officer nodded in acknowledgement, and went back to work. Kujou Sara left the office, with Itto's taunts following her on her out.
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Night came, and no one had yet arrived for Itto. As requested, the officer found Sara in the police station when he was leaving, and Sara took her position watching the desk.
A few hours went by with not much for her to do. The quiet of the night was only broken by Itto's various attempts to get on Kujou Sara's nerves. He would yell insults, make various annoying or disgusting noises at her, or pretend to sleep and intentionally fake snore very loudly, but Sara was determined to give nothing more than a glare in response to this behavior.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the office door. "Come in." Sara replied to the knock. The door opened, and in walked Kuki Shinobu. Seeing Shinobu put Sara in a little bit of a better mood. Kujou Sara held great admiration for Shinobu, having known her for years prior to her perplexingly joining the Arataki Gang. The two even continued to work together in various matters to this day. Sara wouldn't consider many people to be her friend, but she certainly considered Kuki Shinobu to be one. "Ah, good evening Shinobu. I trust you are here for him," Sara said, pointing towards Itto.
"Oh Shinobu, thank goodness you're here! You gotta get me outta this cell." Itto pleaded at Shinobu. "Relax boss, I'm seeing what I can do. Just let me talk to Madame Kujou Sara." replied Shinobu. Shinobu turned to Sara and asked, "So, has he been behaving himself?"
"What do you think?", Sara said dryly, rolling her eyes. "Please sit down." Sara continued, pointing to a chair on the side of the desk opposite to Sara.
As Shinobu sat down, Sara asked, "Have you been made aware of the charges against Itto."
"I've heard some rumors, but nothing official. What are the charges against him?" Shinobu replied.
Sara opened the case file for Itto's arrest, turned it toward Shinobu, and said "Arataki Itto has been charged with trespassing into TenshuKaku and creating a disturbance in a military zone requiring a high level of security clearance to enter. Both are -"
Sara was interrupted by Itto as he said, "I was just trying to-"
"Be quiet, Itto" Sara interrupted back, in an annoyed tone while glaring at Itto.
Sara turned back to Shinobu and said, "Both are felony level offenses I'm afraid, and can result in several severe punishments, including a considerable amount of time in a Tenryou Commission Prison Facility. The fact that-"
"PRISON TIME?" Itto interrupted again, "You gotta be kidding me. You're seriously going to throw me in prison for trying to-"
"I said shut it Itto." Snarled Sara, giving him an even nastier glare this time.
"Boss, you gotta stop interrupting. You're only gonna make it worse," said Shinobu pleading with Itto. Shinobu turned to Sara and said, "I am very sorry for his rude behavior. Please continue."
Sara took a deep breath before continuing. "The fact that his arrest record is anything but spotless, obviously does not help him. Unfortunately, all of these factors together, in addition to the reports from the royal guards that Itto was not being cooperative when being detained by them, do not paint a good picture for him. To be completely honest, I'm not sure there are many officers employed by the Tenryou Commission that would recommend something other than prison time. Itto in his carelessness SERIOUSLY crossed a line this time Shinobu, and something needs to be done about it."
"Are you saying that-" Shinobu replied, before being interrupted by Itto.
"I can't believe what I am hearing! This is RIDICULOUS!" Itto yelled.
"Boss, can it" snapped Shinobu.
"No, no way. I am not just gonna sit in here and take this. Prison time?! For trying to hand out an invitation to my festival?" Itto barked.
Sara, seemingly finally having enough of Itto's antics for the day, turned her body toward Itto and snapped at him. "You can't just go walking into Tenshukaku! It doesn't matter what you were trying to do!"
"This is all because people think I was there to try to hurt the Shogun right? Do you seriously think I was there to try to hurt the Shogun?" Itto responded, getting louder.
"No! I don't think that! But that DOESN'T mean that-" yelled Sara, getting louder as well, before being cut off by Itto again.
"You know Tengu, I haven't known you that long, but for as long as I've known you, you've always given me a hard time. I know I cause a lot of ruckus and do a lot of dumb things, but I have NEVER seriously hurt someone. Bumps and bruises sure, but it's not like I've ever made it so someone could never walk again or something. And NOW you want to throw me in PRISON for THIS? I bet that's why you wanted to handle my case yourself, you just knew with these charges you finally could put me in prison! So tell me, just what did I EVER do to you to make you HATE me so damn much?"
Sara slammed her hands on the desk in front of her, shocking Shinobu, and stood up from her chair with such force she knocked the chair into the wall behind her, nearly knocking it over and onto the ground. She began shouting at Itto, "I DON'T HATE YOU! I'm FRUSTRATED by you! You are the loudest, most OBNOXIOUS individual I have ever had to deal with, and honestly some days I feel like you've made it your personal mission to make my life as difficult as possible. You constantly follow me around trying to get me to fight you, and put up posters all over the country TAUNTING ME! Do you have ANY idea how AGGRAVATING that is to deal with on a near daily basis? And even after ALL that, I still DON'T HATE YOU, and I NEVER HAVE, NOT EVEN WHEN WE WERE KIDS, AND CERTAINLY NOT NOW."
The room went silent for a second or two before Itto started up again," What are you talking about 'when we were kids'? The first time we met was a few days before we fought for my vision."
Sara still enraged, and taking a step toward Itto as she yelled, "NO, that's NOT when we first met. When you were a kid, you got into a heated on-and-off week-long argument with a Tengu boy from the forest, and tried to settle the argument with a sumo match, right? Then during the match, you and the Tengu boy rolled down a hill, and you hit your head, and then you woke up three days later at your house with the old woman who took care of you, right? I know all of this because it wasn't a Tengu 'boy' you got into the fight with, it was ME! WE fell down that hill together, and when you got knocked out from the fall because you landed head first onto a tree stump, I picked you up, and by MYSELF carried you back to where you lived. THEN, I STAYED there for three days helping that sweet old lady care for you, because I didn't want to leave when I could help her and YOU! I ONLY left when YOU started to wake up!
Oh, and for the record, I took your case to see if there was something I could do to HELP you NOT go to prison. So please tell me, WHY WOULD I DO ANY OF THAT IF I HATED YOU?"
Shinobu, and now even Itto, stared wide-eyed at Sara in stunned silence. After a few moments, Sara took a deep breath, stepped back to her chair, and sat in it. Sara then leaned back in her chair, closed her eyes, and grabbed the bridge of her nose. Despite her eyes being closed, she could still feel Shinobu and Itto's eyes on her.
"I'm reducing the charges to misdemeanor trespassing," Sara said, in an exhausted tone, her voice aimed at Shinobu. "With this charge, and Itto's record, I believe a fine of 100,000 Mora is appropriate. Do you have this sum of Mora on your person Shinobu?"
"Y-yes Madame Kujou," Shinobu replied, reaching for her wallet, pulling out the sum of Mora Sara had specified and placing it on the desk between them. Sara didn't even open her eyes to check the count before she held the key to Itto's cell out toward Shinobu. "Please, just take him." Sara said.
Shinobu took the key, walked to the cell, and unlocked it. While unlocking it Sara heard Shinobu whisper to Itto, "Don't you dare say another word to her."
Shinobu opened the cell door and out stepped Itto. Sara, still closing her eyes and holding the bridge of her nose, heard Itto and Shinobu's footsteps come closer, and then the sound of the keys being placed back onto the desk. "Thank you Sara, I hope you have a wonderful rest of your night." Shinobu said.
"You too, and you're welcome Shinobu." Sara replied, finally opening her eyes, looking at her friend Shinobu with what she hoped was a pleasant enough expression, and grabbing the keys so she could place them back into the desk. Sara, exhausted, shifted her focus to the papers in front of her and began to write the final notes related to Itto's fine and release.
Shinobu turned and walked toward the office door, opening it when she got to it. Itto followed behind her. Itto was almost out the door, almost being able to heed Shinobu's warning, before turning and blurting out to Sara, "Why did you do all that stuff? Why help me?"
Sara looked up to the see the confused expression on Itto's face, as well as the mortified look in Shinobu's eyes. Sara's eyes met Shinobu's, and Sara gave her a slight wave trying to let her know it was okay that Itto spoke. Sara looked at Itto and said, "Two reasons. First, I helped you today because the charges levied against you are charges we levy against terrorists. You're a moron, not a terrorist. And second... I helped you because we're both yokai. Sure, I'm a tengu, and you're an oni, but we're both still yokai..." With her tone beginning to carry sadness, Sara continued, "... And from what I can tell, there aren't many of us walking around anymore. I just feel like... when possible and when within reason, we should at least try to look out for each other. Now, please leave without another word." Sara's eyes once again shifted to Shinobu, "Once again, have a good night Shinobu. I hope the next time I get to see you, we meet under more pleasant circumstances."
Shinobu bowed and grabbed Itto by his arm, dragging him out of the office, and shutting the door behind him. Sara, as she turned her attention back to the file on the desk, heard the muffled sounds of a very annoyed Shinobu quietly scolding Itto before the sound ended when they left the police station. Sara heard the station door close as she wrote the final notes in Itto's case file, explaining her reasoning for lessening the charges and fining Itto, closed the file, and let out an exhausted sigh while leaning back into her chair. She looked up at the ceiling for a moment, wondering if Itto was ever going to be less of a thorn in her side. As the moment passed, she collected her things, and left the police station, wishing the guards stationed in the courtyard a good night. Sara decided to take the scenic route home, hoping the walk and the pleasant sounds of the night would help her calm down so she could get a better night's sleep.